Spirit Bound
by Alexandria de Loraine
Summary: Hermione x Remus, Mature for future content. After years of studying Remus' condition as a werewolf, Hermione may find herself in over her head when Moony decides that she belongs with him.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own any part of Harry Potter.

This is non-canon, specifically with regard to the final book(s) of the series, especially the Tonks/Lupin relationship. I have endeavored to remain true to the original personalities of the characters, inasmuch as is possible. This is a work of imagination, so enjoy it as you like.

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The hair at the back of Hermione's neck bristled and stood on end as another long howl pierced the night. "Bad idea," she was whispering to herself, "Merlin this was a bad idea, I should have transformed before I left." Her fingers were trembling as she rushed to remove her clothes, and she shivered from the cold of the night air; when her wand was stowed safely she dropped her clothes into a pile, turning as the howling continued, drawing closer. Heartbeat pounding in her throat, she closed her eyes and focused, transforming fluidly into her animagus form.

Her transformation came none too soon as the werewolf crested the hill, letting out another long howl as it scented the air, searching for her. She had transformed into a lithe-bodied wolf, tawny brown in color, and as Moony entered the clearing she bound over to him, pressing her belly to the ground as she approached and crawling towards him; she stopped several feet before him as he growled, huffed and sniffed at her. The werewolf seemed agitated by its inability to find the human, and Hermione rolled onto her back, making a light, whining sound to regain his full attention. It worked, and Moony stood over her, looking at her and sniffing her; then the great beast lowered his head to her and nuzzled the fur at her neck, licking her. Hermione slowly rolled back over onto her stomach and lifted her head up to nuzzle Moony in return, licking his nose and muzzle. After a few minutes, the werewolf nudged her repeatedly to get up and then the two of them took off into the woods.

It had been like this for nearly two years now. With every full moon came another transformation, and for Hermione another opportunity to study a werewolf roaming uninhibited, in the form of Moony. The first time she had transformed to observe him, she had tried to follow and trail far behind him; she should have known better. Moony had identified her almost immediately, had rounded upon her, pinned her down, inspected her thoroughly for more than an hour, and then gradually let her up, let her follow him.

After that Moony had engaged her more with each occasion, until he greeted her with familiarity, affection even, when he found her after each transformation. They ran for miles through the night, hunting, howling to the moon and the stars, and as dawn approached they returned the way they'd come and Moony curled up to sleep as she sat nearby and watched him. Hermione was always gone before the change occurred and Remus awoke; she slipped away with the silence of a shadow and would return, immensely weary, to her room at Grimmauld Place.

She kept meticulous notes of her nights with Moony, intrigued by the behaviors he exhibited when let free to roam. As she had documented in her notes, Moony had not exhibited the same feral bestiality and mindlessness since the end of the war; Remus had finally come to terms with his inner wolf, and had chosen every month since then to go deep into the wilderness where he had constructed himself a small cottage. There, far enough away from any human being to feel secure, Remus gave himself over to his transformation each month freely.

It seemed that when Remus was not trying to subjugate and stifle his inner wolf, but rather let him loose to freely express himself, Moony was satisfied, somehow much calmer. As she had observed that night, though, Hermione realized that a large part of Moony's relative calm had probably to do with the great distance between him and any human being. It had been reckless to let Moony smell her in her human body; he had fixed upon the smell of her at once. After putting down her notes, Hermione finally slept.

Within two hours there was a knocking on her door, but she was too deeply asleep to notice it. After a second round of knocking, Sirius Black opened her door and poked his head inside the room. "Hermione are you awake?" he asked from the doorway as he stepped into her room.

Startled awake by the sound of her name, Hermione jolted upright, drawing her wand, "what?" she had lain eyes on Sirius and after a moment her brain registered who she was looking at and she dropped her wand hand, "oh, Sirius. I'm sorry," she yawned, "you surprised me."

"Sorry about that," he shrugged, "Gin just wanted to know if you were coming down for breakfast. You look beat, were you up all night again?" He had looked around her room and saw that her desk was piled with open books and stacks of parchment.

Hermione sighed, lying down again and pulling her blanket back up to her chin, "yes, spent all night researching; tell Ginny I'll be down in a few more hours."

"Alright," Sirius laughed lightly and turned, leaving her room and closing the door. Left alone once again, Hermione quickly fell back into a deep, dreamless sleep.

A day later Remus returned, still tired from the full moon, but looking none the worse for wear. It was Saturday and he arrived back at Grimmauld Place just after breakfast when Ginny was still in the kitchen cleaning up. Sirius was lounging in the parlor and he flagged Remus down immediately when he entered the house.

Shortly after Voldemort had died, and Hermione killed Bellatrix, Sirius had appeared from nowhere in the kitchen of number 12 Grimmauld Place. He'd no recollection of falling through the veil in the Department of Mysteries, and utterly no clue as to how he had been returned, but after having tried every conceivable spell on him to prove his identity, the Order had been satisfied that it was actually Sirius Black, and he had taken up residence in the old Black residence with Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Remus.

Now, he greeted Remus with a broad smile and a friendly hug, urging his friend to sit and make himself comfortable by the fire, "was it a rough time?" he asked, looking Remus over for any cuts or bruises. But Remus only shook his head, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

"The transformations aren't so bad anymore," he reminded Sirius, "Moony must be getting old," he laughed a little and sighed, "no, it's not near as bad as it used to be."

"That's good," Sirius nodded, considering Remus thoughtfully, "you hungry, mate? I'm sure Gin's got extra from breakfast, I'll get you a plate."

Remus shook his head tiredly, "no, I'd just like to sleep some more."

Grimmauld Place was an enormous house, such that even with six people living under one roof there was still plenty of room. Sirius had taken up residence on the fourth floor, in his old bedroom, though he had gutted it of its contents and remodeled it with more mature décor. Hermione had already taken Regulus' old room as her own before Sirius returned, preferring to be alone on the fourth floor, but she had chosen to stay even after he turned up to be her neighbor. Harry and Ginny had taken the master bedroom on the second floor, and Ron had also settled on the second floor of the house, being near to the stairs and so near to the kitchen.

On the third floor there was Remus' bedroom, as well as the Black family library and the room which Hermione had transformed into her own private lab. All in all, the house had comfortably accommodated all of them, and especially since they had finally removed old Mrs. Black's portrait from the entryway, it had transformed a great deal from its once decrepit state.

Now Sirius helped his friend up, assisting him up the stairs to the third floor. Hermione was working in her lab with the door open when she heard Sirius helping Remus up the stairs. Greeting them as they passed, she went back to her work almost immediately and Sirius left Remus to rest in his room. As he was returning to the stairs, Sirius paused at the door to Hermione's lab. "What're you working on?" he asked.

"Nothing right now, just storing some of the herbs and materials I've harvested recently," and indeed she had an array of jars sitting open before her as she was sorting several piles of dried plant material into them. At the end of her table were several jars with freshly pickled contents, Sirius recognized a jar of toad livers and another filled with frog eyes.

"Hermione, your lab is reminiscent of Snape's," he remarked, glancing around. He hadn't been in her lab often before, and didn't pay much attention to it when he had been there, but on that day he noticed that Hermione had a lunar calendar adorning the wall behind her workstation. "Hey," he asked, "what do use that for?"

"Hm?" Hermione glanced up from her sorting, then looked behind her to see what Sirius was referring to, "oh, it's very useful, necessary for harvesting herbs and such at the right time of the month. The timing of the harvesting, and the method of preserving and storing an ingredient is very important for more complex potions."

"What sort of potions are you working on?" Sirius was actually growing curious about it; he'd never particularly cared for the study of potion-making, finding it rather too time-consuming and tedious for his taste when he was a young man.

"I've been working on a potion to reverse the effects of long-term, repeated exposure to the cruciatus curse since the end of the war, as you know. Progress there is slow," a cross look passed over Hermione's face. She had asked the Ministry for a research grant, so that she could afford to fund her research and employ two or three other people to carry out tests and field work for her experiments, but the Ministry had only offered to fund her research if they had full oversight and all her work was carried out within the confines of the Ministry of Magic.

"My other project has to do with crafting a counter-curse to the Imperius. Again, very slow progress there," she sighed, and having finished filling her jars she turned away from Sirius to wash her hands thoroughly. Having dried them off, she picked up her wand and cast a spell to seal the lids onto all of the jars.

"You don't take small projects, do you?" Sirius shook his head, chuckling, cast back into distant memories. His time at Hogwarts had been the best years of his life, and he recalled one Remus Lupin who had similarly always been obsessed by books and theory.

"Not if I can help it," Hermione answered with some humor, but her tone turned serious, "I have a very limited amount of time on Earth, the human life span is terribly short, even with the capacity to live longer as a result of magic. I'd like to learn as much as I can, accomplish as much as I can, and alleviate as much of the unnecessary suffering of others as is possible."

"You'll make Gryffindor the proudest House in the history of Hogwarts," Sirius assured her, "truly the brightest witch of your age. It's good we got you instead of Ravenclaw."

Hermione nodded, smiling at the thought, as she began replacing her jars onto shelves in a cupboard behind her workstation. "Is Remus doing well?"

"Yeah, just tired s'all. Not as roughed up as usual."

"That's good," she had finished her task and looked at Sirius, "did you need something?"

He shrugged, "nah, have a book to read, actually."

"Oh really? The infamous ladies' man, Sirius Black, is also a literary man?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at him skeptically, and he laughed.

"Yes, but don't tell Moony eh? Don't want him to think his habits rubbed off on me over the years," Sirius winked, and with that dismissed himself from Hermione's lab, returning down the stairs to the parlor. Hermione finished tidying her lab and then exited, closing the door behind her and warding it against unwanted intrusion.

Checking her watch to verify the time, Hermione knew Harry and Ginny would be going on shortly. Ron had left as soon as he finished eating to attend Quidditch practice. Since joining the Chudley Cannons after the war, Ron had lived and breathed the game he so adored. Hermione, who had cautioned him against it to the last day, had reluctantly admitted that Ron had never been happier in his life. Despite the loss of his brother in the war, Ron had matured a bit and found incredible joy in playing for the team he had so long adored.

Ginny and Harry were due to visit the Weasleys as soon as Ginny finished with the kitchen, so Hermione headed up the stairs to her room and occupied herself with a book, leaving her door open to listen. She didn't wait long, since ten minutes later Ginny came quietly up the stairs to tell her goodbye, "Harry and I are going, we'll probably be gone all day. Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

Hermione shook her head, "that's alright Ginny, thanks but I've got a lot of studying to do for the next step in my experiments. You and Harry have fun, say hello to your mum for me."

After she was certain that they were gone and that Sirius was occupied in the parlor, Hermione crept silently down the stairs to the third floor. Remus' room was just past her lab, and his door had been left unlocked. Having cast a disillusionment charm over herself, Hermione opened his door and slipped into his room, leaving the door open just a crack behind her. He was lying on his side, facing the wall with his back to the door when she entered, and Hermione stood still by the entrance to his room for several moments, breathing softly and looking at him from across the room. His breath was strong, steady and deep, he was truly asleep, and Hermione walked quietly to his bedside, looking over his shoulder to see his face.

There were dark circles under his eyes, but he was recovering well from the full moon. Remus wore many scars from his life, and from the final battles against Voldemort; one of the most recent stretched from his left ear to his collar bone. Hermione watched as he slept, thinking how vulnerable he appeared; his hair had gone nearly half silver-gray due to the stress of the wars he'd lived through, but he the rest remained a sandy brown color. Casting off her disillusionment charm, Hermione withdrew several phials from her robes and restored them to their regular size with her wand.

"Remus," she said softly, and sat on the side of his bed, reaching out to gently touch his shoulder, "wake up, Professor Lupin."

A faint smile curved his lips as he began to stir, and Remus grumbled sleepily, "I haven't been your professor for many years, Miss Granger." He opened his eyes blearily and stared at her.

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Chapter two will follow soon. Constructive feedback is appreciated. This will be a fairly short fic, probably 3-5 chapters or so.


	2. Chapter 2

I appreciate the reviews so far, I'm glad y'all are enjoying it; please remember that constructive feedback is much appreciated. This chapter will begin to deal with our real Hermione/Lupin involvement, so please enjoy.

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_A faint smile curved his lips as he began to stir, and Remus grumbled sleepily, "I haven't been your professor for many years, Miss Granger." He opened his eyes blearily and stared at her._

"I've brought you some things to help you feel better," Hermione uncorked the first of the three phials she had brought, holding it out to him. The potion was a light blue, watery substance with a mildly sweet flavor, a potent replenishing draught which Hermione brewed fresh each month. Remus recognized it and took it readily from her, swallowing the contents in two mouthfuls. The second phial contained a much thicker, syrupy liquid which was an intense orange color, and which tasted rather like citrus fruit, "it's a concentrated nutritional potion," Hermione informed him at his raised brow, "you're very pale and weak from lack of proper nutrition the last few days, it will help get some color back in your skin."

"Yes, I think Poppy forced this on me many times," he sighed and drank it down, "so what've you got as a finale?"

Hermione shook her head, smiling. She shook the contents of the third phial to be certain they were well mixed, then handed it to Remus, "that is to restore bone marrow. It's been noted by many doctors that the transformation which occurs every month is very taxing on the werewolf's bone structure, a great deal of bone matter is lost or damaged over time."

"Are you going to take me to the show ring someday?" Remus chuckled after finishing the last potion, "I think with you around, I'll be the healthiest werewolf in the world."

"That's my goal," Hermione nodded, taking the empty phials back and replacing them inside her robe, "give those a few minutes to really get into your system, you should feel much better."

Remus nodded, having sat up and leaned back against his wall, his amber eyes taking her in as she sat beside him, "I begin to feel much better indeed."

"That's good. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

Remus shook his head, "no, not at all. Ask away."

Pulling a small notebook and pen from her pocket, Hermione flipped it open to a blank page and looked at Remus, "do you ever remember anything that happens while you are transformed under the influence of the full moon?"

He shook his head at first, "no," he looked down, and his voice fell to nearly a whisper, "my mind is gone when Moony comes out." Shaking his head again, Remus looked at Hermione, "you've studied werewolves, though; you know we suffer total amnesia."

Hermione nodded, taking note of his response, "that is the general view of the matter, but I know what I saw when I was tracking Greyback."

"Or being tracked by him, as the case may be," Remus pointed out.

Hermione blushed, nodding, "yes well, that's particularly why I put so much effort into learning about werewolves. I observed that Greyback had some recollection of the events that occurred during the full moon; not a perfect recollection, but he remembered quite a lot. Of course, he was more beast than man even as a human, so I've considered that there is probably some level of variation between individual werewolves, but there are others who are proven to have recalled events which occurred while they were transformed. Anyway, I was just curious."

Nodding, Remus began to feel more alert and energetic, the potions having really begun to get into his system. He could feel a palpable heat rushing through his veins and it took him several moments to realize that Hermione had asked him another question, but he had not heard her. "I'm sorry, Hermione, you'll have to repeat that."

"Are those potions helping you?" Hermione asked with a grin.

"Yes," Remus nodded, "thank you very much; you needn't go out of your way, you know, to tend to me like this after every full moon."

"Honestly, Remus, it gives me something to put my skills to use on. I use most of the ingredients for these potions in my other projects, so it's useful experience for me, and…" she paused, blushing lightly and looking away.

Feeling much more alert, Remus looked at the young woman and realized she was embarrassed, "and?" he inquired, "please, Hermione, you may always speak freely with me."

"It makes me very happy to help you feel better. Anyway, I'm glad you are now," feeling flustered, Hermione had shoved the notebook and pen back into her pocket and made to stand up and leave, but Remus reached out and gripped her wrist gently, holding her back.

"Hermione," Remus said softly, "you are a good and warmhearted young woman; please don't feel embarrassed on account of an old werewolf like me. Very few people are made happy simply by the practice of helping others and alleviating suffering in the world around them, I am thankful you are one of those rarities. Merlin knows I've been benefiting from your potions."

Where he had taken hold her wrist, Hermione felt a rushing, tingling sensation shooting down to her fingertips and up her arm simultaneously. She nodded, unable to look at Remus, and withdrew her wrist slowly from his touch, "I'm glad, sir," she could not bring herself to look at him, "I'm sorry, I left something unattended." Standing abruptly, Hermione left Remus' room in such a hurry that she did not see Sirius standing to the other side of Remus' door as she left.

In the safety of her room, with the door shut tight, she collapsed on her bed, blushing madly. Since the end of the war, she had become increasingly aware of an attraction which she harbored for Remus, and the feeling of his skin against hers, the strength of his grip as he had held her wrist, had sent her heart racing. Breathing long and deep to calm her jittery nerves, Hermione tried to quell the fluttering sensation in her belly. _'It's hopeless,' _she reminded herself, _'it's Remus, for Merlin's sake. If it was Sirius, maybe there'd be a chance, but Remus would never see someone so young that way, certainly never one of his own students.'_

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After watching Hermione dart nimbly up the stairs to go to her room, Sirius pushed open Remus' door and poked his head in, "had a feeling you were awake."

Remus looked over at him, "I am now; I was asleep. Hermione brought me some potions," Remus explained, "she's very good with her brewing. I may still nap for a while, but I'm feeling much better now."

Sirius nodded, and leaning his shoulder against the wall he remarked, "y'know mate, she cares a lot about you."

"Hermione is very pure of heart," Remus nodded, "you know, she'd figured out my furry little problem before anyone else when they were students, but she kept it to herself."

Sirius laughed, "I think I remember something about that."

"Yes," a distant look entered Remus' eyes and he said, more softly, "she didn't know me, yet she knew my darkest secret and she trusted me without having any reason."

"Well," Sirius shrugged, "it's not like you're Voldemort, eh?"

Remus laughed, shaking his head, "indeed not."

Sirius stayed a while in Remus' room, conversing quietly with him. While Harry had pursued his career as an Auror and Sirius had mainly been occupied with keeping a low profile and staying home since his unexpected return, Remus had spent the first few months after the war healing and recuperating after all the death and destruction. His first full moon had been only days after Voldemort fell, and had been one of his worst transformations in recent memory. Still recovering from the effects of multiple hexes, and with a nine inch wound still healing across his side his transformation had torn all his wounds open again.

He'd barely survived the experience; having only just managed to apparate to the steps of Grimmauld Place, Harry had found him in a pool of his blood and brought him in. Hermione had put him back together, healed his abused body. Then Sirius had returned to them, and amidst everything that was happening, what she had done for him was forgotten. Remus had not forgotten, though, the cool gentle touch of her hands as she had put salve on his wounds and changed his bandages over the course of that week, brewing potions to aid in his recovery.

When he'd come round the first time, he had wondered who the heaven-sent creature was who tended him so gently. Of course he should have known it was Hermione; she was one of the only people he had ever known who were not at all concerned about contracting lycanthropy from him. It was known, of course, that lycanthropy was not transmitted by blood contact, but people were xenophobic, irrationally fearful and even most of the Order members had kept their distance from Remus. He was something different from them, and generally he made them uneasy.

As he'd recovered, Remus had considered what to do with his life. He hadn't put much thought toward it for a very long time; he'd been involved in the struggle against Voldemort for the entirety of his adult life. Honestly, he had never expected to survive the war; though he'd no intention of dying, he just hadn't envisioned himself making it through alive. Thus, when all was said and done, Remus realized that there was little he wished to do in the world, except to quietly withdraw to the countryside.

To this end, and also to accommodate his monthly transformations, he had constructed his cottage far out in the countryside. He enjoyed going there when he wished to study or read, and he enjoyed observing the birds and rabbits that lived in the area throughout the summer. It was too lonely to live there alone, though, and so he stayed at the house with Sirius. The two went out from time to time, visiting old familiar places. Minerva had offered Remus the post of the D.A.D.A Professor, but Remus was not ready to return to Hogwarts.

Instead, he returned to an old hobby of his, reading all manner of texts at his leisure. It had been a long time since he'd been free of worry, unconstrained by time. For once in his life, he had a surplus of wealth and very little in the way of living costs. His needs were fewer than ever, while his means were greater, and recognizing the irony of it Remus began to pursue old habits again.

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That night Harry and Ginny were still gone, so when Ron finally returned to the house he came thundering up the stairs and thudded on Hermione's door, "oy, are you home, 'Mione?"

After a moment she came to her door, opening it, "yes, welcome back; have a good day?"

"Oh yeah," Ron nodded, a happy grin spreading over his face as he came in and flopped on Hermione's neatly made bed, "this is going to be a good year. First game of the season is coming up soon." Pursuing Quidditch had been good for Ron, it made him happy, and it allowed him to shine in an arena all his own. Since Harry had chosen to pursue a career as an Auror, Ron was free to shine in the spotlight and all lingering feelings of jealousy had evaporated. When he played with the Cannons, the stadiums were full, and the crowds going wild cheered for him.

"I'm sure your whole family will be there to watch you," Hermione had gone back over to her desk and was organizing her notes, closing several books and stacking them out of the way to the side. Indeed, Molly and Arthur, and by extension as many of the Weasley clan as were within traveling distance, had not missed a single one of Ron's games so far.

"Will you come to the opening game?" he asked.

"Sure, I should be able to attend."

"I know it's not really your thing, never has been, but it's real nice when you can make it to some of my games."

Hermione nodded, "of course, Ron. At any rate, are you hungry? I think I'm ready for dinner."

"Oh yeah," hopping up, Ron nodded enthusiastically and headed for the door. His thundering steps preceded Hermione as they went downstairs to the kitchen. Although Hermione was not the cook that Molly Weasley was, she could fix some decent meals, and since Sirius joined them in the kitchen after only a few minutes, Ron had someone more interested to talk to about all things Quidditch, and Hermione was left in peace to cook.

"How long 'till dinner, 'Mione?" Ron asked after a few minutes.

"Twenty, maybe thirty minutes," Hermione answered.

"I'm gonna show Sirius something; call us when it's ready, yeah?"

Rolling her eyes in bemusement, Hermione nodded, "I'll call you."

As they left, Hermione returned to her task at hand. She had set two pots of water on the stove to boil and was peeling potatoes when Remus came quietly down the stairs and entered the kitchen. His steps were so soft that Hermione didn't hear him until he pulled out a stool and sat at the prep table behind her, drawing Hermione's attention to him.

"Oh, Remus," she smiled upon seeing him, "good evening. How are you feeling?"

"Much better," he nodded, "do you mind if I get a mug of cider?"

"Not at all, help yourself."

Remus summoned the jug of cider from the fridge and a mug from the cupboard as he watched her; having peeled a dozen potatoes she was chopping them into small chunks and dumping them into one of the pots of boiling water. The sound of her knife on the cutting board was rhythmic and soothing; transporting Remus through his memories, back to a time when he had sat in James and Lily's kitchen, drinking butterbeer and watching Lily cook. Lily had started out as a horrible cook, but inspired by her love for James, and in turn by James' love for food, she had grown more adept. By the time she was pregnant with Harry, Remus and Sirius were regularly coming over for dinner at the Potters'.

Before long, Remus found himself asking, "do you need help with anything?"

"No, but thank you for offering," she shook her head, looking over her shoulder at Remus, "I just have to make enough for Ron and Sirius to be satisfied. They eat like they expect a famine."

Remus laughed at that, nodding in amusement, "oh, you're right about that. It's always been like that with Sirius; you should've seen him and James when they'd raid the kitchens at Hogwarts."

Drinking from his cider, he watched her for several minutes before asking casually, "have you made any headway with your research projects lately?"

"A bit," Hermione acknowledged, "progress is very slow in coming, but I still find the research process highly rewarding. I haven't achieved what I set out to do yet, but I've been learning a lot as I try different variations in the potions. I never thought I'd say it, but I wish Professor Snape were around sometimes; he was a very talented Potions Master."

"Yes," Remus nodded, "Snape was a very formidable wizard in many ways." Life had not been easy on Severus Snape, Remus knew that from firsthand experience and he hoped the man had finally found some peace in death.

The two enjoyed a companionable silence while Hermione finished cooking, and Remus offered his assistance again to set the table. There was steamed broccoli and brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob and two baskets full of warm, buttered rolls, and just as Hermione was on the verge of calling Ron and Sirius for dinner, they came rumbling down of their own accord and seated themselves at the table.

"Smells great 'Mione," Ron complimented as he began serving himself.

She nodded, smiling, and sat across from Ron and Sirius, next to Remus. Sitting beside him she could smell the faint musk and sandalwood aroma that identified him and Hermione watched from the corner of her eye as Remus refilled his mug with cider and took a serving of potatoes and gravy onto his plate. Having noticed her attention on him, Remus told her quietly, "thank you for cooking, Hermione."

"Oy, yeah, thanks 'Mione," Ron seconded and Sirius nodded, smirking to himself.

When they were done eating, Hermione cleared everything back to the kitchen and Remus helped her again. For the cleanup she did not mind resorting to the use of magic, and Hermione was acutely aware of Remus watching her as she returned the dishes to their proper places. Sirius and Ron had cleared off after the meal, returning to whatever they had been doing previously, and the kitchen was quiet as Remus said to her, "you know, I was thinking I might be able to help you with your research, if you'd like. I wasn't as good as Snape, but I enjoyed potions."

"I appreciate the offer," she answered, "I admit, it would be helpful to at least have someone else to look over my notes. Would you mind if I took a few days to compile what I've been working on, and then let you read it over? I could use the feedback."

"I would be happy to," Remus nodded and thanked Hermione again for cooking dinner as the two left the kitchen and ascended the stairs. She continued up to the fourth floor when Remus headed down the hall to his room on the third; by the time Ginny and Harry returned late that night, the house was dark and quiet, everyone except Sirius having fallen asleep.

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Five days later Hermione had finished compiling most of her notes on her current work on the potion for treating the cruciatus, and she brought the bulging stack of papers to Remus' door, knocking lightly. It was midafternoon, so when Remus opened his door to admit her, his room was alight with sunshine from the window. Entering his room, she crossed over to his desk and set down the pile of papers and notebooks she had brought with her.

"This isn't everything," a wry look crossed her face momentarily as she thought of the massive stacks she had sorted through to refine her notes and research into something more manageable, "not by a long shot, but I've tried to condense most of my notes and the important information. Everything should be here, if you come across something that doesn't make sense or seems incomplete, let me know and I can give you more notes if I have them."

Remus considered the pile of paperwork, "it's a rather impressive start, thank you for letting me look over it. I may need some time, especially with my potion skills being a bit rusty."

"Of course, you can take your time with it. I'm taking some time right now to read a few extra books before I resume lab tests and trials, and I have a copy of all of this of course, so there's really no rush."

After a short chat, Hermione left Remus to consider her work and returned to her lab to plot timetables and plan for her next foray into the wilderness with Moony. She had come to relish their time together, running wild and free, without any cares in the world. Looking at her lunar calendar, she counted the days, satisfied that in only three short weeks and a day she would have another opportunity to study her favourite wolf. With the disappointingly slow progress she was making on her potion and the anti-curse she was trying to develop, Hermione relished the time she spent studying Remus on the full moons.

'_He is such a gentle man,' _she thought, reflecting not for the first time on the dichotomy of character which she observed in Remus Lupin. Checking to be sure her door was warded, she opened her desk and pulled out a stack of parchment detailing her observations of Moony. After two years she had accumulated quite a bit of data on the werewolf, his habits and behaviors, his diet, the range of emotional expression he possessed. She had been fascinated by Remus from the time she had discovered his lycanthropy in third year, but with all the distractions of the war, it was only with Voldemort dead that she had begun to satisfy her curiosity about him.

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It was nearly three weeks before Remus had gotten through the pile of notes which Hermione had presented him with, and he was thoroughly impressed by her methodology and the key points of interest she had highlighted in her research. _'She's on the right track,' _he thought as he re-read several pages from her notes, _'Merlin, the girl's brilliant.' _He had known it when he taught her, but he was regularly impressed by just how intelligent and diligent Hermione was when she pursued anything of an academic nature.

Taking up her notes, he left his room and stopped at the door of her lab, knocking several times. When there was no response, he headed down the hall and up the stairs, knocking at her bedroom door instead and waiting. After a moment, her door swung open and Hermione stood before him, wrapped in a fluffy white bathrobe, with her hair hanging damp around her shoulders, and for a moment Remus could not find the words to speak.

The scent of her skin, vanilla and macadamia nuts bombarded his heightened senses and something deep inside him awakened, instantly recognizing the smell of her. "Hermione," he managed to say after what seemed ages, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," he had never seen her in such a state of undress before, and he was having a hard time looking her in the face when the scent of her was driving him wild. Remus knew the smell of her, had known it since he had first taught her, but he had never been so close to her when she was freshly washed, and beneath her regular scent he realized he detected something else, making a hot flush rise up his neck, "I just wanted to return your notes."

Realizing he was uneasy, and taking it for embarrassment that she was unclothed, Hermione flushed and took her notes from him, "thank you. I'm sorry, I just finished showering a few minutes ago; I can get dressed and come down to my lab if you'd like to discuss my research."

"No! No, that's okay, not tonight," Remus said quickly, feeling flustered, "I'm just a little tired, it's getting close to the full moon. I included some of my notes; you can look over them and use them as a starting point until we have more time to discuss it."

As soon as he had gotten back to his room, Remus locked and warded the door. He had to strip off the light sweater he'd been wearing, his body suddenly feeling extraordinarily hot as the blood rushed through his veins. _'Virgin,'_ he found himself thinking, _'she's still a virgin.' _At first he couldn't believe it, but he'd felt the wolf stirring within him when she had stood there, practically naked but for her robe. The smell of her had been intoxicating, and Remus would have felt alarmed, even ashamed, by his sudden, base reaction to her, but he was distracted by the intense arousal the wolf felt knowing she was untouched.

Moony was awake.

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Thank you again to those who have reviewed, I appreciate the feedback. Constructive feedback is most appreciated. In the next installment we will be seeing a lot more of Moony, and Remus is going to be learning some of Hermione's best kept secrets.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again to all of you, and thank you for the reviews and feedback. I really appreciate the constructive feedback, letting me know what you liked, what you didn't, etc. is very helpful. If something flowed very smoothly, or if something didn't seem to transition well, I'd like to hear about it from all of you reading. It really helps to improve the quality of the story as a whole when I receive feedback about it, so thank you all very much.

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_The smell of her had been intoxicating, and Remus would have felt alarmed, even ashamed, by his sudden, base reaction to her, but he was distracted by the intense arousal the wolf felt knowing she was untouched._

_Moony was awake._

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Remus rose early the next morning, having chosen to leave for his countryside retreat that day, before anyone else awoke. He'd had a long and restless night, unable to sleep and unable to fully dislodge Hermione from his thoughts because of Moony. The wolf was restless, prowling at the edge of Remus' conscious mind. It was around five in the morning when he slipped quietly down the stairs, and as he descended the stairs he noticed the aroma of black tea wafting up the staircase.

As it happened, black tea was Sirius' favorite variety, and so Remus quite expected to find his friend in the kitchen when he pushed the door open and entered it, and he was prepared to bid him a genial farewell before he left for his monthly foray. It was not Sirius Black who was sitting in the kitchen sipping tea, however. Indeed, it was Hermione, sitting by the fireplace and scanning through a well-worn book. For the span of several seconds, Remus stood frozen just within the doorway, his hand still poised over the doorknob.

The door had not creaked, nor had Remus made any noise when he entered, yet Hermione must have sensed his gaze upon her because she looked up from her book, unsurprised to see him.

"Good morning," she greeted him quietly, and Remus snapped back to his senses.

"Hermione," he stepped into the kitchen, allowing the door to close behind him, "you're up early." Inwardly he groaned, _'can you think of nothing better to say?' _

"I had a hard time sleeping," she shrugged, closing her book and setting it aside as she stood, "would you like some tea? I was thinking of making some breakfast."

"No," Remus stated quickly, "I'm sorry, no. Actually, I thought it was Sirius here in the kitchen," seeing her brow furrow, Remus added, "the tea, he drinks black tea."

"Yes, that he does," Hermione had poured herself a second cup and she sat on a stool across the table from where Remus stood feeling flushed and awkward, "so why are you up so early?"

Remus could think of nothing else to say, so he answered honestly, "Moony is restless. I was actually going to leave for the countryside."

Surprised, Hermione looked at him, "but the full moon is three days away."

"Yes, I know," he scratched the back of his head self-consciously, looking away from her, "sometimes he's just more restless than others." And that was true; when Remus had been a young man Moony would often start to surface even a full week before the full moon.

"Hm," she considered him thoughtfully for several moments, "well, would you like some breakfast before you go?"

Immediately, Remus opened his mouth to politely decline, to bid her goodbye and to be on his way, but instead he found himself saying yes and taking a seat on the stool nearest to him.

"I'm just making eggs for myself; do you want something else – French toast, an omelet?" Hermione asked as she got the pan she needed and set it on the stove.

"However you're fixing yours is fine; I'll have mine the same," he answered quietly, "thank you." He had been avoiding looking directly at her while she was sitting, but with her back to him as she began cracking eggs into a bowl to make breakfast Remus found himself unable to look away from her.

Without doubt, she was a fierce and powerful young woman, quite capable of handling nearly any opponent, as she had shown so many times over the years. Yet looking upon her in the kitchen, illuminated by that pale pre-dawn light, he saw in her also a great gentleness and delicacy of character. Despite the little scars scattered here and there across her skin, Hermione was still a fine-featured woman, her hands were delicate with quick, nimble fingers, and nearly everything she did was carried out with a certain gracefulness; even her footsteps were soft and nearly silent. For a moment, he remembered how those hands had felt gently applying salves and creams, washing and bandaging his damaged body, healing him.

Within a few minutes the smell of the eggs cooking filled the kitchen, and Hermione sliced up a pile of bread and put it in the oven to toast, asking Remus over her shoulder, "would you like cider or tea with breakfast?"

"Just water," he answered.

When their eggs were finished and the bread toasted, Hermione brought the bread to the table in a basket with a dish of butter and knife alongside. Then she brought their plates, each with a fluffy heap of golden-brown scrambled eggs and fork, and set Remus' plate down before him. Flicking her wand, she summoned over a glass of water from the counter, and a napkin.

"Bon appetite," she said with a smile, settling back on her stool across the table from him.

"Thank you," Remus said softly, looking down at the food. He hadn't been particularly hungry, but the eggs were perfect and smelled delicious. Trying a bite, he found them salted and peppered perfectly to taste, and he reached for some of the bread, buttering it.

Watching him as he ate, Hermione was thinking about what to do to pass time in the three days before she would see him again. After reading through his notes, she had quite wanted to sit down and talk about some them, but now she was more curious what made Moony restless. Remus usually left the day of the full moon, and Moony rarely bothered him. So they ate in silence, each absorbed in their thoughts about the other, though neither would have guessed it.

When she was finished Hermione stood up, and seeing that Remus' plate was empty asked him, "are you done?"

He nodded, and she collected his plate and glass, setting them in the sink with her own.

"Thank you very much, Hermione. I should be going now," Remus told her, standing from his stool and looking her in the eye.

"Are you apparating?" she asked, and Remus nodded, "good, I'll walk you out." Standing, she came around the table and motioned for Remus to precede her from the kitchen.

As they crossed into the hall, Remus smelled Hermione much more distinctly than he had in the kitchen, and he felt Moony suddenly jump to awareness. The wolf had calmed down when he realized Remus was going to leave for the country, but now he stirred again, aroused by the smell of her so close at hand. Before he could stop himself, he found he had turned and reached back to grasp her wrist, pulling her closer to him in the darkened hall.

"Hermione," he murmured softly, "why is your heart beating so fast?"

The moment he'd touched her, her heart began pounding, and Hermione could not find her voice to speak as she looked him in the eye. There was something different about his eyes, though, a certain wildness that she suddenly recognized, "Moony."

A fierce golden fire seemed to flare in his eyes, and he leaned closer, nuzzling her hair close to her ear, inhaling the scent of her, "oh yes," a palpable heat emanated from his body and with his free hand he tucked her hair behind her ear, trailing his fingertips over her skin, "you've been here all the time, hiding right under my nose."

As suddenly as Moony had seized control, Remus regained it and his eyes returned to their normal amber hue. He flushed, releasing Hermione so quickly he stumbled backwards and nearly fell over his own feet, "I'm so sorry," he whispered in horror, and his hands shook as he reached out toward the wall for support, "please forgive me, Hermione, I'm so sorry."

Unable to look at her face, he turned and fled through the front door, fumbled for his wand and quickly disappeared with a pop. Inside, Hermione stood still, unable to move for several moments as she considered what had just happened. The clearing of a throat snapped her out of her thoughts, and she turned, startled, to see Sirius leaning in the doorframe of the study.

"Morning 'Mione," he said quietly, "you wanna come sit for a few minutes?"

Accepting from the tone of his voice that she hadn't much of a choice, Hermione nodded and went into the study with Sirius, the door closing behind them, and she sat in one of the comfortable chairs by the fire. Looking up at Sirius as he stood a few feet from her, next to the couch, she asked, "did you hear everything?"

He nodded, taking a seat on the couch, "sounded like Moony came out."

"Yes," she bit her lip, looking away from Sirius, "I was just walking Remus out, he said he was leaving a few days early for his transformation."

Sirius watched her for a few minutes in silence, trying to decide if he was reading too much into what he thought he was seeing between the bookworm and his last remaining friend, "did he frighten you? I can tell you he's never harmed anyone, Moony used to surface from time to time when we were teenagers. Hormones and all that, y'know?"

Smiling, Hermione nodded, "no, Remus could never frighten me. It's my fault, I suppose, he was ready to leave but I kept him back for breakfast. I should have simply let him go."

"Perhaps so," Sirius nodded, then finally asked, "how did you know it was Moony?"

"His eyes changed," she answered simply, "I saw him transform in third year, I remember the difference in his eyes."

They spoke for a few minutes more before Hermione excused herself to return to her room, and Sirius was left to puzzle over his own thoughts. Perhaps he was imagining it, and Hermione had only a friendly interest in Remus' well-being. _'No,'_ he decided, _'there's definitely something there. The very way she looks at him when she thinks no one is watching…'_

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It took Remus several minutes to stop shaking when he arrived at his cottage, and he sat with his back against the door, his mind spinning wildly, self-recriminations repeating in his head. "Why?" he asked himself softly. The wolf was still awake within him, aggravated by the abrupt disconnection and subjugation, "of all people, why Hermione? For Merlin's sake Moony, why Hermione?"

Then another thought occurred to him, so profound and distracting that he stopped caring about why Moony had surfaced as he had. There had been recognition, the wolf had emerged because he somehow recognized Hermione. _'How could he?' _Remus wondered, numb at the thought.

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Those three days before the full moon passed quickly, and Hermione found herself fidgeting in her room during the afternoon that day before the full moon. After her encounter with Moony when Remus had left, Hermione considered whether she should stay at the house this time, to let Moony run and roam by himself. She couldn't bring herself to skip their night together, though, and so as evening approached she paced through her room, watching the clock.

She had passed the time over the previous three days mostly re-reading her notes from all her previous experiences with Moony. Although she had seen Grayback exhibit much of his werewolf nature while in human form, Hermione had never seen Moony come out in such a way with Remus. She'd added her encounter with Moony in the hall to her notes, and after having written down what he said to her, she stared at the words for a long time.

'_You've been here all the time, hiding right under my nose.' _

She hadn't been able to sleep well since the morning he left; every night as she lay in the dark trying to quiet her mind to rest, the sensation of his skin against hers as he gripped her wrist, and the sound of his voice so close to her ear, the warmth of his breath all returned to her. Hermione had never imagined there could be so much sensation in such limited contact, yet thinking about it caused her heart to beat quickly in her chest.

'_Get a grip on yourself,' _she chastised herself, _'it wasn't Remus. He's probably horrified by what happened, or mortified, and you don't even know what it means.'_

At last the sun set, and Hermione waited just long enough for the moon to rise before slipping quietly out of Grimmauld Place and apparating into the night.

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Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed so far, and I'm sorry for the long lapse between chapters; work and daily life got in the way of working on this. I've got some time off now, so I'll be finishing this up in the next couple weeks. Keep an eye out for the final chapter or two yet to come, and please feel free to share any constructive feedback you may have.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again, and thank you all once more for the reviews and the feedback you've given me on this work, it is all much appreciated. I'm sorry for the long delay between this chapter and the last; I was once again tied up with 'real life'. Since it's been so long, and because the last chapter was fairly short, I worked this one up to be a bit longer. Enjoy!

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'_At last the sun set, and Hermione waited just long enough for the moon to rise before slipping quietly out of Grimmauld Place and apparating into the night.'_

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It was dawn when Hermione reappeared outside Grimmauld Place, exhausted from her night with Moony spent running and howling under the moon. He had remained awake almost until the sun rose, his attention fixed on his tawny companion, almost as though he anticipated that she would leave as soon as he fell asleep. As it was, she had stayed nearly until the change began, watching Moony sleep, entranced by the peacefulness of the werewolf at rest. She stopped briefly in her lab to add a few notes to her file on Moony, and finally fell into an exhausted sleep at around six in the morning.

While Hermione slept, one Sirius Black sat quietly in the study, just off the main hall on the first floor of the house. Her departure late the night before had not slipped past his attention, nor had her return so early in the morning. In her exhaustion, she had not noticed his presence as she passed the study, and so Sirius sat, staring silently into the fire, absorbed in his thoughts.

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Hermione awoke in the midafternoon and after stretching from her fingertips to her toes she laid in bed for a long while, staring at her door and glancing around at her belongings. The thought of seeing Remus excited her, but she also wondered if he would want to see her; she had known him long enough to understand that what Moony had done probably left Remus feeling embarrassed. By nature he was a very quiet, reserved man, and he had worked for years to control Moony and to come to terms with his nature as a werewolf.

'_I don't want him to withdraw,' _she thought, sighing and rolling onto her back to stare at her ceiling. She began to get unbearably hot and tossed off her covers, closing her eyes and thinking. Finally she sat up, setting her feet on the ground and leaning her folded arms on her knees, _'so why did Moony emerge?' _

Grabbing a loose robe she took her wand and went down the stairs to her lab. The house was quiet, empty except for Sirius who was probably in his room or the study, and Hermione figured Remus wasn't back yet. Her lab was warm so she left the door open to allow some fresh air in as she went over to her desk and sat in her chair, withdrawing her file on Moony from her desk. Opening the file, she spent quite a while looking through her earliest notes about him, including some surviving remnants from her schooldays.

After a long while, she set her file aside and got out fresh parchment to put down a more complete set of notes about her night with Moony. It was as she was finishing her notes that there was a soft knock on her open door, and glancing up she laid eyes on Sirius standing in the hall just outside her lab. Casting a quick drying spell over her notes, she slid them into the back of her file and replaced it in her desk, closing the drawer.

"Hey there Sirius, come on in," she stood from behind her desk, stretching and glancing at the clock on her wall. It was just past four o'clock, and realizing it had been almost two hours since she'd emerged from her room she began to feel rather hungry. Sirius had entered at her invitation, and she appraised him casually, "did you need something?"

He was silent for another minute, glancing around her lab, and he looked a long time at the lunar calendar she had hung behind her desk. Finally, he leaned against her large work table, "I think we need to talk, Hermione."

Hermione could count on one hand the number of times Sirius had called her by her given name, and so she realized at once that whatever Sirius wished to speak about must be serious. It didn't take a neuroscientist to deduce that it must be about Remus, so she sat on the edge of her desk with a sigh, facing Sirius.

"Is this about Professor Lupin?" she asked bluntly, and Sirius nodded.

"Do you fancy him?"

The urge to categorically deny his question rose up strongly and Hermione opened her mouth to issue just such a denial, but then closed it again, shaking her head and sighing, "it shouldn't concern you whether I do or not."

"It does," Sirius responded instantly, looking at her seriously, "he's the only friend I have left, and you've been sneaking out on the night of the full moon for a while now. Why?"

Hermione chewed on her lower lip for several long moments, deliberating over what to say before settling on a redacted version of the truth, "I've had a keen interest in lycanthropy since I learned about Remus' condition in third year. During the war I tracked and studied several werewolves, including Greyback, in an effort to learn more about them."

"And now that the war is over Remus is just a perfect specimen to study?" Sirius raised an eyebrow at her, "how do you think he'd feel about that?"

A surge of indignation coursed through her and Hermione had to stop herself from snapping at Sirius, she bit her tongue for a moment and then responded evenly, "He is not a specimen to me. I respect him too much to ever consider him that."

"If you respect him why haven't you told him what you've been up to?" Sirius looked her in the eye as he asked.

"Right," she exhaled a short, humorless laugh, "because I'm sure that would have gone over well. You know him, Sirius; you should know him better than any of us. Would Remus Lupin ever allow one of us near him during his transformation?"

At her question Sirius had to shake his head, sighing, "No, I suppose he wouldn't."

"Of course he wouldn't. He's so full of self-recrimination already that I'm surprised he even stays in this house with the rest of us. If I even suggested to him that I be allowed to observe him during his monthly transformation it would only cause him to put more distance between himself and the rest of us," she left her desk as she was speaking and began to pace back and forth across the floor, finally asking, "are you going to tell him?"

Sirius was silent for a long time before he answered, and Hermione felt an uneasy sensation building in her stomach. If Sirius told Remus what she'd been doing it would end her monthly sojourns with the werewolf and put a huge strain on their tenuous friendship.

Finally he answered, "no. I should, but I won't tell him. You should, though. He'll find out on his own if you don't tell him. Thanks for leveling with me, 'Mione."

At his words it felt as though a clenched fist holding her stomach released its grip, and Hermione breathed a sigh of profound relief. Sirius had stepped away from her work table and stood before her, continuing to look at her for several long moments before he turned to go.

As he turned to leave, Hermione spoke up, "Sirius, how did you know?"

He chuckled softly, pivoting to look at her again and shaking his head.

"You're the brightest witch of your age, 'Mione, but love makes you blind. You need to come clean with him before he finds out on his own," and with that statement he left her standing in her lab, alone with her thoughts.

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Remus returned late that evening; his body was still sore and exhausted from his transformation, but he paid little heed to it as his mind was filled with more important questions. As he always did, Sirius was waiting for him when he arrived and he offered Remus a hand up to his room but was swiftly refused as Remus made his way up the stairs on his own. Sirius remained at the foot of the stairs, watching as his friend continued around the corner and up to the third floor. He could tell by his demeanor that Remus was preoccupied with something, so he did not follow him but instead returned to the study and sat by the fire.

In his room, Remus shut the door and warded it before sitting on his bed. He had slept through the morning and early afternoon only to awake in the early evening from an unusually vivid dream of Hermione sitting beside him and stroking his hair gently. The feeling of her fingertips trailing over his scalp felt divine, but when she leaned down and tenderly kissed his forehead he had jolted awake in a state of shock, his heartbeat racing.

Now he could not get the images from his dream out of his mind, and he had no desire to sleep lest they should return. To make matters worse, he could still feel the wolf inside him, prowling at the edge of his conscious mind. Moony was fixated on the thought of Hermione, and Remus was having a very hard time trying to take his mind off her.

"Damn you Moony," he swore softly, standing to pace around his room in frustration, "you can't have her. You can't have anyone, you old wolf, let alone her."

Upstairs, Hermione was sitting in her room on the fourth floor. She had been waiting for Remus to return all day, thinking about what Sirius had said to her. It bothered her to think that she had slipped up and somehow revealed what she was doing each full moon, yet Sirius had figured it out which meant that she had slipped up. While she wasn't concerned about Harry, Ginny or Ron figuring it out, if Sirius had then she realized Remus also would.

'_Sirius is right,' _she sighed as she leaned against the wall, sitting on her bed, _'it's only a matter of time, probably not even that much time now that Moony has surfaced and recognized me. I should tell him.' _But to tell Remus would mean an end to her research and observation, an end to her bonding with Moony. To not tell him was to risk him finding out on his own, and that might end their entire friendship; she groaned in frustration, dropping her head into her hands.

There was the added issue of her feelings for Remus, and the fact that of course she had undertaken her study of him because she loved him. How could she hope to tell him the truth and leave her feelings out of it? Even if she didn't say anything, he would be sure to guess it, and then there would only ever be awkwardness between them.

After a long while she finally turned off her lights and climbed into bed. The house was silent except for the odd creak or gust of wind blowing past the windows, but Hermione laid awake well into the night thinking of what to do. Eventually she fell into a restless sleep, still unable to come to a decision about what to do.

It was before dawn when Hermione awoke again, sometime between three and four in the morning. She had been dreaming of the night in third year when she had called to Moony in the forest, and a strong urge came over her to check on Remus. Slipping out of bed she brought her wand with her, casting a strong invisibility charm over herself. Her steps were soft-footed, as silent as her door when she opened it and slipped through, leaving it barely ajar behind her.

When she was before the door to Remus' bedroom she stood very still, her heartbeat racing in her throat. Listening closely she held her breath for several long moments, then whispered a soft incantation to open the door. It swung open perfectly silently and she stepped carefully into his room, dark and shadowed with no source of light. As his door shut she moved closer to the side of his bed, her eyes growing more accustomed to the darkness. Though she couldn't make out his form clearly, she could tell he was sleeping on his side, facing toward where she stood.

Remus shifted in his sleep then, and rolling over his arm slid off the bed so that his hand hung down off the bed. Instinctively Hermione bent and reached out to lift his hand back up. The moment her hand touched his skin she realized she should not have touched him. In an instant he snapped awake and had taken hold of her forearm. Before she could utter so much as a sound of surprise, he jerked her firmly toward the bed and brought her body close enough to grab her around the waist. In the span of barely a few seconds he had pinned her on the bed.

Leaning close to her face as he gripped her wand hand, he growled softly, "drop your magic, witch." Stunned Hermione released the cloaking spell she had cast upon herself.

"Better," he dropped his head, inhaling the fragrance of her hair and pressing his mouth against the curve of her neck in a hot, searing kiss, "oh yes, you'll hide from me no more."

The touch of his mouth against her skin had distracted her but a sudden fear gripped her as she realized that it was Moony speaking. Her heart, already beating swiftly, seemed to fall into her stomach and she attempted to reach for her wand only to realize it was not in or near her hand.

"Moony," she gasped softly as his mouth moved up her neck to her jaw. Where his mouth touched her she felt as though her skin was alight with fire, electric pulses alighting from her fingertips to her toes, "oh no."

"No?" his voice was low, heavy with desire, and he growled, holding her more firmly as she tensed, "your heart is pounding," he licked the throbbing artery in her throat. "You've been with me the last two years," he whispered it in the shell of her ear, "have you suddenly changed your mind about me?"

The touch of his teeth as he nibbled on her ear nearly sent Hermione out of her senses. She had kissed and fumbled with Krum and for a short, disastrous period with Ron, but no one had ever set her nerves alight like Moony was. Even the sound of his voice, soft and husky with desire, aroused her to no end. At her silence he only growled softly and brought his mouth to hers in a searing kiss; she could not have refused if she wanted to, and fueled by his arousal he grew more aggressive, dominating her and nipping at her lips.

"Sweet virgin witch," he growled between kisses, bringing his hands up to hold her throat and jaw as he caressed her, "you're mine," he kissed her again, his tongue tracing the contours of her mouth.

"No," Hermione tried to push him away, but he only gripped her wrists and pinned her hands to her sides.

"No?" he had her pinned fully under the length of his body, and he pressed himself intimately against her, "you're mine, witch. I've found you now; you won't hide from me again."

She couldn't see him well in the darkness, but Moony's eyes were alight with an inner fire and his heart beat wildly in his chest at the thrill of having finally caught her. When Remus had finally passed into uneasy sleep, Moony had remained conscious at the edge of his mind, prowling and waiting. He could sense Hermione's presence in the house, could practically taste her in the air; it had been driving him wild, and when she had entered the room the scent of her aroused him, he seized control.

"Two years," he repeated, kissing her possessively.

"Remus," she finally said softly, "no Moony, I can't. Remus, please -"

He cut her off, devouring her mouth in an aggressive kiss, "he can't help you now. You're mine, you should have known. Mine, Hermione," his mouth wrapped around her name, "you're burning with desire for me and I'll have you."

Even as the words left his mouth, however, a sudden shift took place within Remus and suddenly he was struggling for control over himself again. As he came back to his senses, the events of the past several minutes flashed through his mind almost as though he had dreamt them. Hermione still laid in his arms beneath him, though, her lips red and swollen from his kisses, her breath short and her heartbeat pounding so hard he could feel it in his chest where he was pressed against her.

"Hermione?" he asked in a choked whisper, and a second later he jerked away from her, moving so quickly he fell out of the bed, landing with a muffled thud on the floor.

"Remus," she breathed softly, simultaneously filled with a deep relief and a dreadful awkwardness, "oh no."

He barely heard her, the sensation of her mouth and body against his replaying again as he stared at her, stunned by what had been happening between them.

"What are you doing here?"

Hermione had scrambled up from his bed and she summoned her wand to her, holding the smooth shaft of wood tightly in her hand as she trembled and shook involuntarily, "I'm so sorry Remus," even in the darkness she couldn't bear to look at his face. "I woke up and just wanted to check on you. I didn't— I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

With that she darted past him, too embarrassed to stay any longer, and she dashed down the hall and up the stairs to her room.

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The next chapter should be up much sooner than this one, so stay tuned to find out how Remus is going to react to this development. There is some serious Moony action yet to come. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, please keep it up. ^.^


	5. Chapter 5

Hello again everyone, and thank you all for your reviews so far. I've had some time to work on this recently, and I know you'd all like to see how Remus will react to what has happened, so without further ado I'd like to present the latest chapter of _Spirit Bound_. I hope you enjoy it.

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_He barely heard her, the sensation of her mouth and body against his replaying again as he stared at her, stunned by what had been happening between them. _

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_I'm so sorry Remus," even in the darkness she couldn't bear to look at his face. "I woke up and just wanted to check on you. I didn't— I didn't know. I'm so sorry."_

_With that she darted past him, too embarrassed to stay any longer, and she dashed down the hall and up the stairs to her room. _

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Hermione's swift exit left Remus still sitting on the floor in shocked silence. Moony howled within him and clawed at the edge of his mind, enraged by the loss of his witch. She had been in his arms! Remus felt almost as though he were still dreaming. He hoped that in an instant he might awaken, but a sinking sensation in his gut assured him that everything was quite real. The taste of her lingered in his mouth, arousal hot in his blood as he drew himself back onto his bed.

When he sat on the edge of his bed he realized his hands were trembling and he made an effort to bring his senses back under control. _'What in the hell just happened?' _he wondered, although it was abundantly clear exactly what had just happened.

'_You've been with me the last two years; have you suddenly changed your mind about me?' _Moony's words repeated in his mind and it felt as though his heart froze in his chest. '_Two years?' _his mind was perplexed. Had the wolf been aware of her the entire time they were living together at Grimmauld Place?

'_No…' _Remus thought, and he suddenly felt nauseous – Moony had identified himself in that statement, in a way that spoke of a mutual familiarity with Hermione. His dream from the prior night flashed to the forefront of his mind and his thoughts spun as he felt the touch of her fingers on his scalp, he relived the pressure of her lips kissing his forehead, and he heard her whisper, _'I'll take care of you now Remus, I swear you'll be okay.'_

He had been in a state so far from consciousness at the time, and he suddenly remembered with clarity what had happened. It was the morning after his first transformation following the war, every wound he'd sustained reopened in addition to several new ones. He didn't remember how he had even managed to apparate back to Grimmauld Place. While his body was near death his consciousness seemed to have slipped far away from all his senses; he did not feel any pain, he could not hear any sound, all the world was darkest black.

'_You'll never be alone again,' _she had whispered it so softly no one else would have ever heard; even he had forgotten he'd heard it.

'_How could I forget such a thing?' _he wondered.

He felt deeply disturbed, confused by his memory and by what had just taken place between his alternate personality and the young woman who had been his student. It was true that Moony had surfaced from time to time in the past, mostly while he was an adolescent and very young man, hormonally driven. Even then, though, the wolf had never expressed himself to such an extent, nor with such an aggressive possessiveness as he did with Hermione.

'_Mine, Hermione; you're burning with desire for me and I'll have you.' _

'_Burning with desire for me?' _he thought, closing his eyes and shaking his head with a mirthless laugh, _'and yet…' _And yet she had not fought him, though it wouldn't have mattered if she had. Remus was stronger than her by far, and Moony was stronger yet. Still, she hadn't fought, and as he dared to replay the events in his mind again he realized that it was true. From the smell of her to the rush of her heart as his mouth had devoured her throat, she had been aroused by him.

'_I've assaulted her in my own bed,' _he berated himself mentally, ashamed by what he'd done, _'I should have known better than to return so soon.' _After the events before he'd gone, and while he could still feel the wolf awake inside him, Remus felt he should have known better than to return to Grimmauld. He should have stayed in the countryside another few days, should have waited until his mind was fully his own and at ease. His mind had been clouded by thoughts of Hermione, by questions he could not answer, and he paced through the darkness of his room in frustration, agitated by his loss of control.

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The rest of the night went by in a blur for Hermione. Although she knew he would not follow her, she locked and warded the door to her room quite thoroughly before jumping back into her bed and curling into a tight ball. She could still feel the sensation of his body pressed against hers as he had held her pinned so intimately beneath him, and everywhere his mouth had touched her skin tingled; her lips were still slightly swollen from his love-bites, tender when she licked them.

By morning she had barely slept, and she felt it would be best to get out of the house for a while. It was Tuesday, a bright, warm day despite the approaching autumn. Harry had already left when she emerged from her room and came down to the kitchen. Ginny had just finished cleaning up their breakfast dishes, but she paused when Hermione entered the kitchen.

"You look awful, Hermione," the younger witch came around the prep table and looked more closely at her friend's face, feeling her forehead, "are you sick?"

Shaking her head she answered, "No, I just didn't sleep well. Is there any breakfast left?"

"Of course," Ginny hurried over to the counter and grabbed a plate from the cupboard, "there're some eggs left, or chocolate chip pancakes. Do you want both?"

Although she ordinarily would have liked the pancakes, the thought of something sweet turned her stomach just then. "Just the eggs, thank you," she answered as she took up a seat on one of the barstools at the prep station. In only a minute Ginny had served her a plate of hot eggs, leaving salt and pepper next to her plate.

"Do you want a warm roll?"

Hermione shook her head, "no, just some water if you don't mind."

"Of course," Ginny answered, and she promptly filled a glass and handed it to Hermione.

"Thanks Ginny," she said as she ate. Between bites she asked, "Are you going to the twins' shop today?"

"Yep, I was just going to take a shower before heading that way. You look so exhausted Hermione, are you sure you're okay?"

Hermione took a drink of her water and then answered, "I'm fine. It was just a long night. Anyway, I think I'll be going down to Diagon Alley for the day; there are some books and rare ingredients I need to get."

"If you want to stay here and sleep I could pick up the things you need," Ginny offered, "you really look like you could use a good rest."

"No," Hermione shook her head, "I could use a trip out of the house, it's been a while since I went down to Diagon Alley."

She had finished with her eggs, and after drinking her water she cleaned her dishes with a flick of her wand and replaced them in the cupboard. Thanking Ginny again for breakfast, Hermione bid her friend farewell.

"If you want to get lunch this afternoon, just come down to the shop and I'll join you," Ginny told her as they left the kitchen and Ginny stood on the first step of the stairs while Hermione headed toward the front door.

"I'll think about it. If you don't see me by about two o'clock just take care of yourself though," Hermione answered, and with that she turned and left, disappearing with a pop as she apparated to The Leaky Cauldron.

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It had been four hours since she left the house, and Hermione had not managed to shake the events of the night from her mind. A trip through Flourish and Blotts had not distracted her, nor had her summary trips through two of the apothecaries. Since it was barely approaching noon, she made an effort to pass more time by heading over to one of the small shops specializing in magical artifacts and rare instruments. The shop was called The Dragon's Hoard, an adequate name since it contained a veritable treasure trove of specialty items, many of them glittering with rare gems, crafted from silver, gold and platinum.

The items had correspondingly high price tags attached to them, but it was a shop Hermione enjoyed visiting when she was in the area. There were enchanted music boxes, crystalline scrying balls, and a magnificent, intricately carved staff, plated in gold, which the proprietor swore had once belonged to Merlin. Although she had been through the shop many times it always seemed that was something new when she returned, and this time was no exception.

She had finally begun to get Remus out of her thoughts when her left hand suddenly burned hot for a moment. Startled by the sudden pain she jerked her hand away from the items she'd been examining and stared in horror at the crescent moon glowing on the palm of her hand. _'My wards,' _a feeling of nausea gripped her stomach and she stumbled out of the shop blindly.

Someone had breached the wards on the documentation of her nights with Moony, and though she hoped beyond hope that it was Sirius, Hermione knew in her gut it could only be Remus. As soon as she could gather her thoughts together she apparated out of Diagon Alley, appearing in the entryway of Grimmauld Place; she rushed up the stairs as fast as her feet would carry her, stumbling once or twice as she went, and then ran down the hall to her lab.

The door was ajar, and she froze before reaching out to touch the handle, feeling for a moment as though she would throw up. _'This can't be happening,' _she hoped it was a nightmare; she hoped she would wake up in her bed, but she reached out instead and pushed the door open.

It was Remus. He stood behind her desk, his wand lying atop it, and her file on Moony open in his hands. When the door swung open he looked up and caught her eyes from across the room. There was a dark, tormented look in his usually friendly eyes, and Hermione found she could neither move nor look away from him.

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XD Alright, I'm sorry to leave it at a bit of a cliffhanger like that, and I know this chapter is a bit on the short side, but I wanted to go ahead and get this up for all of you. I've already begun work on chapter six, and I promise it will be quite a bit longer than this one. Your feedback is much appreciated, and thanks to onebigscribble and others who have noticed the odd typo or misspelling here and there and let me know about it. ^.^


	6. Chapter 6

Hey there folks, and thanks for hanging on there after the last chapter. ^.^

To make up for the short length of the last chapter this one is quite a bit longer, so I hope you'll all enjoy it. As ever, I am thankful for your continued feedback, especially when you share specific details about what you like or notice. I do all the proofing/editing of this, and sometimes I miss things, so it really helps when you folks point them out so I can edit to correct them.

At any rate, thanks again and enjoy this chapter of _Sprit Bound. _

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_It was Remus. He stood behind her desk, his wand lying atop it, and her file on Moony open in his hands. When the door swung open he looked up and caught her eyes from across the room. There was a dark, tormented look in his usually friendly eyes, and Hermione found she could neither move nor look away from him._

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"Hermione," his voice was low as he looked at her, and he sounded broken.

"How did you know…" she couldn't find the words to say anything else, her heart beating so hard in her chest she could barely breathe.

"This?" he held her file in his trembling hands, "I didn't know about this, this betrayal of yours. How I found your file, though? Top marks for your spellwork, but obviously I only needed to look for the most complexly guarded thing in your office to find what you hid from me."

He laughed humorlessly, closing the file in his hands and looking around her desk, at the wall behind it, "the lunar calendar in your office. Your presence by my side after every full moon," he held up her notes then, brandishing them in the air, "during them too, apparently! How blind was I not to see what you were doing?"

Remus hadn't had enough time to do more than glance at Hermione's file, but he held it tightly in his hand, fully intent on taking it with him when he left her lab. He would read every word, and then he would most likely destroy it. There was a raw pain clawing inside his chest that nearly left him breathless, but he forced himself to look at the young woman across the room.

"I cannot believe you did this to me," he turned away from her then, pacing in agitation.

"Remus," she finally started to get her senses together and she closed the door behind her. She stepped towards the desk, "please, I wanted to tell you. Let me explain-"

"What can you explain," he cut her off sharply, "what can you explain to me, Hermione? Can you explain why I found you beneath me in my bed this morning? Can you explain why Moony fights me, even now, in his lust to have you?"

The torment was still in his eyes when he looked at her again, standing so close now on the other side of the desk. Standing where she was he could smell the scent of her, and he could feel his self-control slipping as she stared at him. How lovely she was, her eyes earnest as she looked at him, and her sweet mouth parted slightly.

"I can't control him, Hermione," he whispered, and he came around the side of her desk, approaching her slowly. His eyes never wavered from hers, and she could see that they were changing rapidly as Remus fought for control over himself, his hands trembling, "what have you done to make his desire so strong?"

Leaving her file sitting on the desk beside them, Remus stood in front of her and brought his hands up slowly to touch the sides of her face. Stunned and silent, Hermione stood before him as he touched her cheeks, then ran his thumb over her parted lips.

"Remus," she whispered, she could barely breathe.

"What have you done to me?" he leaned down, drawing her mouth to his at last.

"Hermione," he gripped her harder, pulling his mouth away from hers and growling in her ear as he nuzzled her hair, smelling her. He asked again, "what have you done?"

"I wanted to help you," she tried to answer coherently, "I didn't want you to be alone anymore."

Remus hardly listened anyway, all rational thought gone, his mind halfway gone as well. It felt as though he grasped at threads to keep from slipping away entirely, the impulses of the wolf growing stronger, her presence acting like an intoxicant to his senses. She was in his arms, and the touch of her mouth against his, the smell of her, the taste of her sweet lips was drowning out all rational thought, all shame and decency alike.

"I'm alone for a reason," he growled at her, turning her and pushing her against her own desk. He kissed her again, then pulled away and stared wildly into her face, "what were you thinking, witch?" Forcing himself to release her, Remus grasped at the last remnants of his composure, and he clutched his wand and her file in his hand, stumbling away from the desk towards the door.

"Remus…" she didn't move, only looked at him as he stood halfway between her and the door, "I'm sorry," she looked away from his eyes, half wild with desire as he fought to contain himself.

He knew he had to leave. If he didn't he was going to take her, willing or otherwise, on her own desk, and somehow the knowledge that she was still a virgin cut a sobering line through his mental haze._ 'I will not rape my former student,' _he clenched her notes and his wand in his hand and forced himself to turn away from her, to walk to the door and leave her untouched.

Hermione wanted to say something, wanted to stop him, but could only watch him leave. When the door shut with a decisive click, she collapsed to the ground, leaning against her desk. It took several minutes before her heart began to resume a normal pace, and her mind remained scattered in disarray. _'No,' _the word kept repeating in her mind, and she stared at the door a long time. He had her notes, and she could only wonder, _'what am I going to do?'_

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It had been three days. Remus had gone to his countryside retreat, to his cottage. Her notes were scattered on the table in front of him, and he stared at them as he had for several hours already. _'What have I done?' _

He had asked himself the same question countless times already. For two years she had transformed to join him on every full moon. If the material hadn't been so gut-wrenchingly personal, Remus would have admired her exhaustive written account of every full moon; he had learned more about Moony's behavior from reading her notes than he'd recollected in his entire life. _'How can I ever face her?' _he wondered. He knew he would have to, unless he moved to another continent, and that just wasn't likely to happen.

Since he had fled the house, Remus had replayed their encounter over and over again in his mind, trying to pinpoint the precise moment when he lost control of himself. He couldn't, instead only able to recall how she had felt in his arms, how her mouth tasted when he kissed her. Reading her notes, each page had been like a blow to him. Simultaneously, he felt betrayed, deeply disturbed by the fact she had been so close to him for so long without saying anything, and he wanted to return to the house to kiss her senseless again.

He had regained control of himself fully from Moony, the wolf beaten back into the recesses of his subconscious, but it didn't matter anymore. Remus wanted Hermione as much as the wolf within him wanted her. Torn between the desire to flee as far as he could, even to drink in an effort to hide from himself, and the desire to return to her and simply take her, to give her what she clearly thought she wanted, he read and re-read her notes.

'_How can I tell him I love him?' _Her words were written on the final page, near the bottom of her notes about what had happened between them that day before the full moon. If she loved him then she was a greater fool than he had ever realized.

'_There is no future with me,' _he thought bleakly, staring at the page. In frustration he crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it across the room, _'she has no idea.'_

Remus knew Hermione well enough to know that she would seek him out if he waited long enough. Her concern for him would overcome her fear of his reaction and she would come to his retreat in the country, she would not leave him alone. Part of him wanted to embrace this fact, wanted to take advantage of it and let her come to him, let her walk willingly into his hands. Remus had reached a tipping point with Hermione, for the first time in his life, and he felt as though he was losing his mind.

The girl had no idea what she did to him. If she loved him, it was something sweet, something innocent. _'She's a virgin for Merlin's sake,' _he thought for the thousandth time. Since realizing that fact, though, it had only aroused him intensely, and he cursed and swore at himself for the lurid things he imagined doing to her.

'_I'll not become some lecherous character from Nabokov,' _he chastised himself.

Hermione was a young woman, but Remus was far from the shy teenage boy he had once been. He was a man, a werewolf on top of that, and he knew exactly what it was he could do with her, would do with her at the earliest opportunity if he didn't control himself. Especially if she gave in so pliantly, as she had already given in to his kisses and touches. Cursing, he stood and paced back and forth across the floor of his small cottage.

'_There must be some way to banish her from my mind…' _he thought of all the memory spells he knew, and considered again whether it might be worth it to get himself blindingly drunk. _'After all, what's the worst that can happen? Moony might take control?'_

"Ha," he muttered softly to himself, "what difference would it make at this point?"

What difference indeed. Remus was also certain that Sirius must have noticed his absence; his friend would be curious where he'd gone. He had no idea what he might say if Sirius questioned him, and if anyone would sense the source of Remus' problem, it would be his oldest friend.

He thought back to Hermione's notes again, unable to dislodge her from his thoughts. When his eyes had taken in those words, _'How can I tell him I love him?' _for a few moments his heart had soared, and Remus had wanted to simply return to her, take her in his arms and claim her as his own. He wanted to kiss her long and sensually, to hold her face in his hands and tell her how much she meant to him. Then his mind had begun functioning, and he crushed the traitorous thoughts, telling himself, _'it would ruin her to be with me.' _Even if he hadn't seen her grow up from a 13 year old girl, Remus was painfully aware of his lycanthropy and the social stigma it cast upon him. There was no way he could let that stigma cast a shadow over her life.

"What am I to do?" he sat again on the floor, holding his head in his hands and closing his eyes.

When he had read her notes, it felt as though pieces of a puzzle fell into place that he hadn't even realized were missing. He had noticed that, since the end of the war, his transformations had not been nearly so hard on him, his body less exhausted and recovering more quickly each time. As he reflected over the last two years, he remembered that Moony had seemed to settle down, and he had attributed it simply to age taking its toll on him holistically.

With Hermione's notes to tell him everything about his transformations, he saw it all in a different light, and he was no longer even slightly surprised that Moony had responded to her the way he had. Instead, he was struck by how he had managed not to notice. She had learned to take the form of a wolf, and she ran with him, hunted with him, was playful and intimate during his transformations. How could he have failed to remember something so important?

It was no wonder Moony wished to possess her, considered her to already be his. In every way, she had presented herself as submissive and receptive to him over the course of the last two years, and she had never noticed the significance of her actions to the wolf.

Her surprise by his sudden interest in her, and the total lack of anything in her notes to suggest that she realized how her behavior was interpreted by Moony, was testament to the fact that she didn't know what she had been doing. The wolf had every reason to feel possessive of her, and Remus was surprised it had taken so long before he noticed.

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Shortly after Remus had left her lab, Hermione had come to her senses and realized that somehow she had wildly miscalculated how much Remus might remember, and his capacity to quickly hone in on the one thing she had hidden explicitly from him. _'How stupid of me,' _she thought as she considered how he had found her file. She should have known; Remus was not a stupid man, yet what was done could not be undone.

Her mind had been so jumbled that she couldn't remember any useful spells to tidy her lab, so she'd simply left it locked and retreated swiftly to her own room. It didn't take Sirius long to realize that something had happened, and he appeared at her door in the early afternoon the day after Remus had left. Hermione hadn't needed to say much, as soon as she explained that Remus had found her file of notes about Moony, Sirius understood why his friend had left the house, and she was grateful that he left her alone.

Harry and Ron spent so much time working that they hadn't noticed anything was amiss yet, although Ginny had been growing more concerned about whether Hermione was seriously ill. By the third day, Ginny stayed home rather than going to the twins' shop, and she forced her way into Hermione's room that afternoon, bringing tea and a tray with eggs, toast, and a noodle soup.

"I'll hex you if you don't eat, Hermione," Ginny warned when she opened her mouth to decline the food and send Ginny away.

Looking at the red-headed witch warily, Hermione remembered some of the many victims of Ginny's curses in the past, and decided she didn't have the energy to argue with the fiery witch. Ginny allowed her to eat in relative silence, only asking a few times if all the food was suitable and tasty enough. When she was finished, the red-haired girl set the tray and dishes aside and sat on Hermione's bed, looking at her steadily.

"I demand that you tell me what has happened," she ordered, and Hermione actually had to laugh a bit at the authoritative tone of the witch.

"Nothing's happened, Gin," she shook her head; "I ate, didn't I? Look, I'm really okay."

Ginny shook her head, "you're a rotten liar, Hermione. Do you really think I'm blind?"

Hermione looked away from her, "blind about what?"

Sighing in exasperation, Ginny answered, "his name is Remus Lupin, and you've been in love with him literally for years. Haven't you noticed by now?"

"Excuse me?" Hermione's eyes leapt to Ginny's face and she stared at her in shock, "what are you talking about?"

Narrowing her eyes, Ginny scrutinized her closely, "I never said anything because I figured you either didn't realize it yourself, or you weren't ready to talk to anyone about it, but come on Hermione. You had a crush on him when we were students, and after the war you fell in love with him while you were healing him. Something must have happened, because I've barely seen him since the full moon a few days ago, and you've been shut up in here all week."

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, and Hermione dropped her head, trying to blink them away and unable to look at Ginny as she asked, "was I really so obvious?"

"To me, yes," she nodded, reaching out to rub a soothing circle on Hermione's back, "and honestly, I thought Remus rather liked you too. You two have become pretty close friends in the last two years."

"I may have ruined that," Hermione sighed, twisting her hands together in her lap, "you know I mastered my animagus, right?" Ginny nodded, and Hermione continued, "My animagus is a wolf, so I've been joining Moony during his transformations since the end of the war. Something happened after the last full moon, though, and Remus found my notes."

"Oh," Ginny said, looking down, "yes, well I see how that might complicate things."

"I just didn't want him to be alone anymore," she wrapped her arms around her knees, leaning back against her wall as she looked at Ginny, "you know Remus, though; he'd never have agreed to letting me be part of his transformations."

Shaking her head, Ginny sighed, "you're right about that."

After several long minutes of silence, Ginny finally spoke again, looking at Hermione, "do you know where he's gone?"

"The countryside, no doubt," Hermione answered.

"Well, then go see him. He's had time to read your notes by now, you'll need to talk to him about all of it if you ever want to get through this," Ginny's tone had taken on the same air of authoritarianism that it had when she ordered Hermione to eat. The red-haired witch stood up with purpose, grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her to the edge of the bed.

"You're mad, Gin," she pulled her hand away, shaking her head, "he left to get away from me in the first place. I've done enough damage without forcing my presence on him right now."

"The damage will be worse if you don't go see him and get it over with," Ginny argued, "or would you rather wait until he comes back to the house so that you'll have Harry, Ron and Sirius to act as an audience to your private life?"

Considering what she had said, Hermione realized that the younger witch actually had a rather good point. Remus would return to Grimmauld Place sooner or later if she didn't go to him in the countryside first, and they would have to talk to one another if they continued to live in the same house, those were simple inevitabilities.

"You have a valid point," Hermione conceded, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Of course I do," Ginny crossed her arms, huffing indignantly.

Her actions amused Hermione despite the circumstances, and she smiled slightly, shaking her head, "you're so stubborn, Gin. Look, thank you for listening, but I need to think."

Unfolding her arms, she nodded, "alright, but think about what I said, too. You really should go see him, Hermione."

"I know," Hermione stood up, walking Ginny to her door, "I'll figure out what to do."

Ginny accepted that, and she grabbed the tray and dishes before taking her leave to let Hermione decide what was best. The lunch that Ginny had forced on her actually made her feel a lot better, and after spending a while longer in her room, Hermione took her wand and went down to the third floor to quietly let herself into Remus' room.

It was dark in his room, and she left the lights off, simply lighting a candle on his bedside table. She had been in Remus' room many, many times over the last two years, and she felt more comfortable there. Sitting on the edge of his bed, she looked around at the shadowed walls and then slowly laid her face down beside his pillow. The whole room smelled like him, his pillow especially, and Hermione could remember how it had felt to be wrapped in his arms.

'_Oh Remus, what can I possibly do to make you understand…'_

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Hermione was still in Remus' room late that night when he finally chose to return to the house. It was past midnight but Sirius was still up and he watched from the study when Remus entered the house and walked through the dark hall toward the stairs.

"Welcome home, Moony," he called quietly when he passed the door to the study.

Remus stopped and turned back to lean in the doorway, looking into the room to where Sirius sat by the fire. "Did you wait up just for me, Padfoot?"

"Take it easy on the witch, Remus," Sirius simply stated, and Remus wasn't surprised that his friend had already figured out what was going on. He turned again to continue to the stairs when he heard Sirius add, "And take it easy on yourself, mate."

He didn't have the energy to respond, he simply kept going and hauled his weary body up the stairs to the third floor. When he reached the third floor he paused, staring up the final flight of stairs and contemplating briefly if he should simply go to Hermione now and get it over with. _'That can wait,' _he decided, _'there's time enough for it tomorrow.'_

He could smell her in the hall and in her lab when he passed it, and he felt his senses grow more alert despite the bone-deep weariness he felt. A smell that had been normal, even rather pleasant, only two weeks ago was now enough to put him on edge again, and he wanted nothing more than to close the door to his room and try to get what rest he could before confronting her in the morning. With a long sigh, he entered his room and closed the door behind him, intent on rest.

"Remus?" her voice was soft, uncertain and a touch fearful.

Unable to believe it, he turned, his eyes adjusting quickly to the darkness, and stared at where Hermione was sitting up on his bed. Her voice was soft, and he realized she had been asleep on his bed. "Of all the bloody places you could choose to be," he muttered, swearing softly and quickly removing his jacket and using his wand to activate several lights in the room.

Hermione blinked when the lights came on, rubbing her eyes as she was temporarily blinded by the brightness. She scrambled to the edge of his bed, ready to stand and excuse herself, but Remus saw her move and told her, "oh no, don't leave on my account. Please, tell me, what in the hell are you doing in my room?"

His tone of voice, nearly sarcastic, caught her by surprise, and she sat still for several long moments as Remus kicked off his shoes, making himself more comfortable.

"I was thinking," she said at last, unable to look at him as he stood near the door, "trying to figure out how to explain everything to you."

He laughed slightly, shaking his head at her, "by sleeping in my bed? Wasn't it enough that this whole hallway smells like you, did you have to come lay in my bed? Merlin, Hermione, do you even care what you're doing to me?"

"Of course I care," she answered, standing up and taking a step towards him, "Remus, please, this has all gotten out of control. I just want a chance to explain -"

"I've read your notes," he cut her off, "I don't need you to explain anything. I've read your notes," he repeated it more softly, looking away from her as he shook his head again, "I'll cut to the root of the matter, Hermione: you're a fool if you think you love me."

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Well, I had originally intended for this fic to be done by chapter 5 or 6, but I've really been enjoying writing this, and I hope you've all enjoyed reading so far. Things are going to start to wrap up in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that. I also hope this made up a bit for the cliffhanger at the end of chapter five, and I look forward to hearing from all of you. ^.^


	7. Chapter 7

Hey there everyone! Sorry it's been such a long time for this chapter, but I think you'll all enjoy it, and chapter eight is almost finished so it will be up soon.

I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed chapter six; the feedback from all of you has been amazing. ^.^ I've really enjoyed writing this fic so far, so I hope you'll enjoy chapter seven as much as you've enjoyed the rest of the story. On another note, I've started an independent blog recently – there are more details, and links, available in my profile, so I hope you'll take a few minutes to check it out when you're done here.

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_He laughed slightly, shaking his head at her, "by sleeping in my bed? Wasn't it enough that this whole hallway smells like you, did you have to come lay in my bed? Merlin, Hermione, do you even care what you're doing to me?"_

_"Of course I care," she answered, standing up and taking a step towards him, "Remus, please, this has all gotten out of control. I just want a chance to explain -"_

_"I've read your notes," he cut her off, "I don't need you to explain anything. I've read your notes," he repeated it more softly, looking away from her as he shook his head again, "I'll cut to the root of the matter, Hermione: you're a fool if you think you love me."_

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His words hung in the air for several long minutes, as neither of them spoke or moved. Remus had expected his words would sting her, perhaps even make her cry, but she stood silently and simply looked at him, her eyes moving over him slowly from head to toe several times.

"I'm not a fool," she finally said, "and I'm not a child, either; you don't have to treat me like one."

"You're a child in a woman's body," he told her, his tone softening as he stepped closer to her and closed the distance between them, "you've been playing games with the wolf for two years, never knowing what you were doing. Even now you don't know what you do to me, how hard you have made it for me to function."

"So tell me," she said, looking him in the eye as he stood less than a hand's breadth from her. She could feel the heat emanating from his body and see the conflict clear in his eyes. "I had no idea this would happen," she continued when he remained silent.

For a long time he stood there, looking at her. He was physically exhausted, but adrenaline pumped through his blood and he could feel the tension in his body from being so close to her.

"Of course you had no idea. You presented yourself submissively to Moony for two years," he sighed heavily, reaching out to tuck her loose hair behind her ears. "He feels possessive of you," his fingers trailed lightly over her skin and he added softly, "Merlin, Hermione, _I_ feel possessive of you."

Surprised by his statement, she looked up at him, taking in every detail of his face, every contour and scar, and met his eyes again slowly. There was an intensity, a passion in his eyes that she had never seen before, and the way he looked at her made her blood rush hot through her veins. With a deep blush, she looked down, asking him softly, "what if I _want _you to be possessive of me?"

Remus let out a long, frustrated groan, taking hold of her tightly by the upper arms as he tried to think through the exhaustion and the growing arousal clouding his mind.

"Hermione," he groaned at last, seizing hold of her around the waist and bringing her body flush against his own, "you make this very," he had pressed himself intimately against her so that she could feel his whole length swollen and throbbing in his pants, and he continued to whisper in her ear, "_very_ hard, for me."

Lowering his mouth to her throat, he kissed her throbbing pulse, reaching down to take hold of her wrists so that he could hold them pinned to her sides.

"I wanted to deal with this in the morning," he growled, kissing his way back up to her ear and biting gently on her earlobe. With every kiss and nip of his teeth, she sighed and moaned softly, growing increasingly aroused from his attention.

"But you just had to be sleeping in my bed, and you say you aren't a fool while at the same time you practically beg for me to take you," he ceased to speak for several long minutes then as he took her mouth with his, kissing her possessively. Finally, when she was breathless and her eyes shone with arousal, he pulled away from her, leaving one last kiss on her slightly parted lips.

"You have no idea what you're asking for when you say those things to me," he shook his head when she opened her mouth to protest, releasing her wrists and covering her lips with his hand, "I mean it, Hermione. I am not just a possessive man."

"I know," she sighed, looking away from him, "you're a werewolf -"

"Yes," Remus held her by the shoulders as he spoke, "and there are things about my kind that you don't know, things you can't learn no matter how many nights you spend studying Moony."

"Then teach me," she responded, looking at him earnestly.

Remus groaned in frustration, shaking his head, "do you have any idea how Moony sees you?"

He didn't wait for her to respond before he continued, "he sees you as his mate, there is absolutely no middle ground. You think you love me, maybe you do, but you're young. For Merlin's sake, you've never even been with a man intimately, Hermione."

His statement made her flush a deep scarlet from her neck to her hairline.

"How can you possibly know that?"

He ran his hands down her arms, from her shoulders to her wrists and back again, drawing her closer to him. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye, or she would have seen the flickering shift of them from warm golden hazel to vibrant, glowing amber and back again.

"I can smell it," he whispered huskily, one arm wrapping around her waist as he trailed his hand down her back, "you've no idea how much it arouses me."

"I think I do," she said softly, her cheeks burning red. Oh yes, she had a very good idea how aroused he was, pressed as closely together as they were. She could feel his heart beating, the warmth of his arms and chest radiating outwards as his blood coursed hot through his veins.

Remus had felt Moony stirring within him, but he remained in control of himself, his heart hammering in his chest as his cock ached in his pants. "This isn't how it should be for you," he reached up to take hold of her chin again, raising her eyes to his, "I can't do this, Hermione."

"I love you, Remus," she wasn't sure how she managed to say it, but they were the only words she could think of as she looked at him. "I have for years," once the words started, Hermione found herself unable to stop and she pushed forward with Gryffindor courage, "that's why I haven't been with anyone. There was no one I ever wanted but you."

Remus stared at her mutely. Reading her confession of love was one thing, even when it was written in her elegant script at the foot of a page. Hearing her say it was something else entirely, and he found himself unable to speak for several long moments. His body was exhausted and torn between arousal and fatigue, aching in more ways than one.

Leaning down, he kissed her again, this time quite gently, tenderly and passionately.

"Not like this, Hermione," he whispered raggedly when he pulled away, "I can't take you like this, it isn't right."

She could read the conflict clearly in his eyes, though, and she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, drawing his mouth back down to hers. Every kiss from him sent a new thrill coursing through her body, and she pressed herself closer into his warmth as they kissed. Remus could only groan, unable to resist her initially. The ardent touch of her tongue against his, tracing the contours of his mouth, made him growl softly as his arousal intensified.

The wolf within him stirred more strongly, and he kissed her more aggressively, drawing her tightly, almost painfully against him. He ground his hips forward, reaching down with one hand to press her intimately against him as he bit gently on her lips. Laying kisses and love-bites over her jaw and down the side of her neck, he turned and pressed her backward toward the bed. When her knees collided with the mattress, he laid her out upon it, following her so closely that their bodies never stopped touching.

"Remus," she gasped as he bit her slightly too hard at the curve of her neck, and immediately he soothed her with a long kiss, his hand drifting down over her abdomen to slide up beneath her shirt. The touch of his palm, warm and smooth against her bare skin, sent a wave of energy coursing through her, and she visibly jerked from the intensity of it. No one had ever touched her like that, and now of all people it was _Remus, _literally the man of her dreams. It was complete sensory overload, but she tensed when he began to push her shirt up, baring her skin to him.

"You think this is what you want?" he growled, and his mouth descended on the skin of her abdomen, "you imagine you can handle my unbridled passion, satiate my carnal desire for you?"

Remus' teeth and tongue were unrelenting, and he pulled her shirt roughly over her head, discarding it to reveal her breasts to him, clad in a simple black bra. She was supple and soft, he wished to taste her, to claim her and find the release he so badly desired, buried between her willing thighs; but her pants and soft moans were turning into quiet gasps of pain, and Remus reigned himself in forcibly, his breathing hard and ragged.

"You have to stop this," he growled, and the near feral tone of his voice made Hermione's eyes snap up to his; but Remus was in control, and he stared down into her eyes as his weight held her pinned to the bed. He leaned down, kissing her gently before pulling away again, "you're not ready for me. I would only hurt you in this state."

Pulling himself away from her, Remus sat at the edge of the bed for a moment before standing, "you need to go, Hermione," he reached out and took her gently by the hand, summoning her shirt and giving it to her as she sat on the edge of the bed.

Putting her shirt back on, she looked up at him, realizing how close she had pushed him to losing control. Licking her lips she found them to be slightly swollen, tender from his love-bites.

"Will you stay here?" she asked, indicating the whole of Grimmauld Place.

Remus pulled her up gently, drawing her into his arms. It required no small amount of self-control to hold her so close and not finish what he had started; he smoothed her hair down, tucking it behind her ears. "It is my room," he answered wryly, and a brief smile flitted across her mouth as he leaned down to kiss her once more before saying, "go before I change my mind. This isn't the time or place for us."

_Us…_ a word she never thought she would hear from him. Hermione looked at him with shining eyes, leaning up to kiss him a final time. "I love you," she whispered, "I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that she left, slipping quietly through his door and into the dark, silent hall beyond. It was good that she left, Remus finally collapsed on his bed, exhausted, his body thrumming with tension and repressed energy. His hands trembled for several minutes as he laid still, eyes closed, regulating his breathing and steadying his rapid heartbeat.

'_Merlin,' _he groaned softly, waving his hand in annoyance to extinguish the lights that bothered him. _'Us?' _he asked himself, reflecting on the last thing he'd said to her. _'What 'us'? What am I thinking?' _he brought his hand to his mouth, still able to taste her on his tongue. Her scent permeated his pillow and bedroom, a reminder of the reality of the situation he was in.

'_I need to sleep,' _he groaned again, rolling onto his side, and cast his arm towards the window, using a wandless spell to open it and allow the fresh, cool air to flow into his room. His body and mind both needed rest, and Remus finally fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.

It was a long night for Hermione, as well. Safely back in her room, she had stripped her shirt off and examined her collarbone and breasts where Remus had nipped and bitten her. In a few places there were still the faint marks of his teeth, and she realized that he was right when he said she was unprepared for him.

'_I shouldn't push him so far,' _she thought as she lay with her eyes closed, waiting for sleep to claim her. In the dark and the silence, she was acutely aware of Remus' presence just a floor away. Never had she dreamed that her love for him would be returned, and her desire for him left a tight coil of tension in her belly, unsatisfied. Remus' words repeated in her head, _"You imagine you can handle my unbridled passion?"_

'_No,' _she rolled onto her side, hugging her pillow as she tried to sleep, _'I'm not ready for that.'_

At last sleep claimed her, and in dreams she would forget when she awoke, she found herself with Remus, ensconced in his warm embrace. If he held her like that, just so, she would stay with him forever.

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It was midafternoon when he awoke. His room was cool from the open window, and Remus stayed tucked under the covers for a long time, thinking through the events of the previous night. He'd been exhausted, barely able to think straight, and he sighed deeply as he thought of how rough he'd been with Hermione the night before. He hadn't intended to hurt her, however slightly, but it had been hard. She tried his patience and pushed his self-control to the limits.

The scent of her still lingered in his room, and he opened his eyes to stare at the walls of his room, lit by the grey light filtering through his window at an angle. The London sky was grey and dark, and it had rained at some point during the night or in the early morning. Remus relished the scent of the fresh air, inhaling deeply.

After a shower, he emerged quietly from his room. The hall was silent, and Hermione's lab was closed, he heard nothing beyond the locked door. Indeed, the entire house seemed oddly quiet, and he paused at the stairs but detected no sound from her room or Sirius'.

'_This isn't right…'_ he thought, moving down the stairs. Everything was eerily quiet, but as he neared the bottom of the stairs, Remus was relieved to smell the aroma of fresh black tea. Approaching the kitchen, he heard Hermione laughing softly, and he pushed the door open.

Sirius and Hermione were sitting at the prep table in the middle of the kitchen, enjoying an afternoon cup of tea with the old Black china. They looked over to him when he entered, each of them pleased to see him, and Sirius grinned jovially at his friend.

"'Morning Moony," he greeted him, meeting his eyes with a look that asked, _'are you okay?'_

"Afternoon, actually," Hermione corrected with a soft smile, and motioning to the remaining barstool she asked Remus, "would you like a cup of tea?"

Remus stood still near the door for another moment, looking at his best friend and the young woman who had so recently been in his bed with him. It was clear to look at them that they were comfortable with each other, and he wondered why he hadn't noticed that Hermione had become friends with Sirius over the last few years.

"No tea, thank you," he answered politely, though he came over and took the seat equidistance from Sirius and Hermione, "what were you two discussing, then?"

"A mutual friend," Sirius answered casually, and Hermione looked down, blushing lightly.

Remus cocked one eyebrow at them, shaking his head as he asked, "and would I happen to know that mutual friend of yours?"

"That you would," Hermione acknowledged with a small grin, "truth be told, Sirius was just telling me a bit about what it was like for all of you back during your school days."

Remus nodded, watching silently for a moment as she took another sip of her tea. He could see the liquid steaming as it swirled in her cup, a light milky color; she took her tea with cream and a cube of sugar, just a touch of sweetness to balance the strength of the black tea. After sipping, her tongue darted out, soft and pink across her lips, swiping away the remaining droplets of tea.

"I hope he isn't boring you with tales of his many conquests," Remus said wryly.

Sirius glared at him, returning in good humour, "I wouldn't consider that a boring topic," he winked playfully at Hermione, "but actually I was just telling her about how we each became an animagus. Those were good years, before everything happened."

Sirius had the tact to dismiss himself after a few minutes, finishing his tea and leaving the cup in the sink before bidding his friends a good afternoon. Remus didn't even try to stop him from going, relieved as he was to have an opportunity to speak privately to Hermione.

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That's all for now, folks, but stay tuned soon for chapter eight; it's already been started and I'm almost finished with it. For those of you who are also following my newest fic _Déjà Vu, _chapter three is partially written and I will be working on it later this week as well.

In other news, I have recently started an independent blog where my fanfiction stories are being posted, as well as news and updates regarding my original work. I hope you'll take a few minutes to check out my profile for links and more information. I'm also on Twitter now, so feel free to follow me for updates. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed so far, I look forward to hearing what you thought of this chapter. ^.^


	8. Chapter 8

Hello everyone! I just wanted to thank everyone for the awesome feedback so far, it's been really great to hear from everyone. This year has been incredibly hectic for me so far, busier than I'd ever anticipated, so I'm sorry for the time that lapses between updates, but I promise I haven't abandoned anything. _Spirit Bound _is definitely going to be finished, although it's proving to be longer than I'd originally intended.

With that said, I hope everyone's been enjoying the story so far and I'm happy to present chapter eight to you. I hope you'll read, enjoy and share your thoughts at the end. Every comment from you folks really helps; it's inspiring to know there are readers out there who like the story. ^.^

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"_I hope he isn't boring you with tales of his many conquests," Remus said wryly._

_Sirius glared at him, returning in good humour, "I wouldn't consider that a boring topic," he winked playfully at Hermione, "but actually I was just telling her about how we each became an animagus. Those were good years, before everything happened."_

_Sirius had the tact to dismiss himself after a few minutes, finishing his tea and leaving the cup in the sink before bidding his friends a good afternoon. Remus didn't even try to stop him from going, relieved as he was to have an opportunity to speak privately to Hermione._

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Once Sirius had gone, and they were alone together, Hermione looked at Remus with a degree of shy uncertainty. From the moment he'd entered the kitchen, pushing through the door as casually as he ever did, her heartbeat had increased and she'd felt as though her stomach were doing backflips in her abdomen. Reminding herself to breathe, she met his eyes slowly, taking another sip from her tea to steady her nerves.

It was a good sign that he'd shown up in the kitchen, rather than simply avoiding her entirely, but she had no idea what Remus might say to her once they were alone. Would he scold her? Although they had parted on rather… amicable terms the night before, his initial reaction to her hadn't been an altogether positive one. No doubt, he was in more control of himself, so perhaps he intended to politely tell her off, to denounce her as a foolish child again or to renounce any willingness he may have had to consider the possibility of their being together.

Whatever other ideas might have run through her head were interrupted though, and Hermione's attention jumped immediately to Remus as he spoke.

"I've made a decision," he began simply enough. A night of somewhat decent sleep had done a great deal to restore his composure, and he'd resolved to handle the overwhelming attraction between them in a mature and sensible fashion, "this isn't the place for us to deal with anything or make decisions about the future; we're lucky Sirius is the only one so far who's noticed that something isn't quite the same in the last few weeks, it simply isn't private here."

A light blush rose up her neck as she thought of their recent heated encounters, but she didn't mention the fact that Ginny also knew something was up, and Hermione nodded, sipping from her tea again for a moment before she mustered a response, "so what decision have you made?"

"A holiday," Remus answered simply, looking her directly in the eye. His gaze was steady and unwavering; while he hadn't developed any great skills in legilimency, he didn't need it to read what was on her mind by scrutinizing her hazel eyes, "we need time and space away from prying eyes and ears, however well-intentioned they may be."

Whatever she might have expected him to suggest, a holiday certainly wasn't it.

"Not that I'm saying no," she felt her shyness abating, and she looked at the man she had finally professed her love to the night before, "but isn't that horribly conspicuous?"

If privacy was the goal, it would certainly raise some questions from Harry and Ron if the two of them spontaneously decided to go on holiday together.

In November.

Hermione looked at Remus expectantly, and he found himself laughing lightly.

"It'll be fine if I go off on some business for a few weeks," he assured her, and standing from his stool he held his hand out to her, inviting her to stand as well, "they're good boys, but they won't be bothered to keep track of where exactly I've gone or why."

Taking his hand, Hermione stood from her seat, relishing the electric contact of their skin. Remus' palm was warm and dry, his skin calloused and weathered as he gripped her hand gently and pulled her closer to him until they stood only a few centimeters apart.

"After several days, you'll have plans to visit your parents for a week," he suggested, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear, and a wry smile curved the corner of her mouth as she listened. "You'll meet me at my cottage in the woods; I think you remember how to get there."

"And no one will be the wiser," Hermione looked at him, eyes lit with amusement, "when did you decide on this?"

Remus laughed heartily this time, and Hermione relished the sound of it. His laughter was rich and warm, and she was struck by just how handsome he was when he smiled. In all the years that she'd known him, he had usually looked so worn and haggard that he appeared ten years older than he really was. Despite his scars, when he smiled or laughed the years melted from Remus' face and he looked more like a man of no more than thirty.

"I wasn't sorted into Gryffindor for my cowardice," he began by way of explanation, looking down at her as they stood close together. "Since there's little point in trying to run from whatever it is that's happening between us, I think it would be rather more prudent that we afford ourselves some privacy and time to deal with it as reasonable adults."

His statement brought another broad smile across her face, and she leaned forward to embrace him warmly, eyes shining brightly. "I'm so glad, Remus," impulsively, she leaned up to kiss him, but Remus pulled away, holding her at bay.

"Not here," he insisted, stepping back slightly, "it isn't private, Hermione."

A hot blush crept up her neck, and she stepped back, feeling slightly chastised, "I'm sorry," she looked away, embarrassed.

"You'll be the death of me, girl," he sighed softly, his voice tender and passionate at the same time as he watched her bite her lip, her embarrassment endearing her to him all the more. Pulling her back to him, he relented and drew her mouth to his, sealing his lips sensuously over hers. Hermione's hands immediately reached up to clutch the front of his shirt and she responded eagerly to his kiss, a hot thrill shooting through her as he growled softly, biting her lightly.

For all his sensible plans made during the early hours of the morning, Remus felt his reaction to her like a potent drug coursing through his blood. "It's so hard to stop touching you once I start," he groaned between kisses.

"Then don't stop," she encouraged him, throwing caution to the wind as she embraced him.

Intoxicated by the witch in his arms, by the scent of her and the touch of her soft, pliant form against his own lean, hardened body, Remus nearly missed the sound of the front door as it closed and heavy footsteps proceeded toward the kitchen. He released Hermione so fast that she stumbled slightly, her look of intense passion turning momentarily to confusion. Then the door burst open behind Remus and she jumped in surprise, stepping further away hastily.

"Oy, hey there 'Mione, Lupin," Ron greeted them both with a surprised grin before addressing Hermione, "haven't seen you for a while, began to think you'd botched another potion and turned yourself into a ghost."

Hermione felt certain her face was burning red, her mouth still tingling from the light touch of Remus' teeth, and she bit her lower lip self-consciously as she tore her eyes away from him and looked at her vibrantly red-headed friend. With a shaky smile, she laughed half-heartedly and shook her head, answering, "of course not; I've just been busy working."

Ron had already gone to the fridge to fix himself something to eat, but he commented over his shoulder, "What _are _you working on at this point, anyway?"

Surprised by his inquiry, she scrambled mentally to come up with an answer but found her mind completely blanking out. _'Werewolves!' _her mind kept supplying, almost as though it were pleased to be of so little use to her at the moment, and she cursed silently as she tried to think.

"Hm? Oh, the same as always," she cast Remus what she hoped was a meaningful look while Ron's back was still turned, continuing, "trying to brew a potion that will treat the effects of the cruciatus curse, and trying to come up with something against the imperius."

"You're still on that?" he didn't sound entirely surprised, but she heard the tone of exasperation underlying his voice as he continued, "'Mione, those spells have been around forever, they're Unforgivables for crying out loud. How long are you going to spend on those projects?"

"What?" she asked him, her own tone taking on a sharper edge as she felt her proverbial hackles rise in defense of her work, "you don't think I can do anything about them, is that it? You think we should just forget about helping people like Neville's parents because the magic that was used to hurt them is old and forbidden?"

Ron turned to face her, holding up his hands defensively, "You know it's not like that, come on. Of course you're smart, and I know you want to help people, but don't forget to keep things in perspective, you know? You're not the first one to try to reverse those spells."

"Don't you think I know that, Ron?" she tried to keep herself from snapping at him, but they'd had the same conversation before and even she could hear the annoyance in her voice. "Of course I want to succeed with my experiments, and I bloody well may, but even if I don't that doesn't mean it's useless. Other potion masters and spell crafters will be able to use my research if I don't finish it myself."

Ron could practically see the flames alighting in her eyes, her gaze fierce and a palpable field of energy nearly crackling in the air around her. With her hair teased wildly about her face and her cheeks red with indignation, he was suddenly reminded of their schooldays and the campaign she had so ardently forged on behalf of house elves under the banner of S.P.E.W. A flicker of a grin flashed over the corner of his mouth at the thought, but he concealed it.

"Hermione," Remus interrupted softly, and Ron's attention jumped to him momentarily, "I don't think Ron means any offense, right?"

Ron shrugged, shaking his head, "Of course not."

His eyes fell back to Hermione as he resigned himself to not making a fuss about it. The fact was, they both knew well enough how Ron felt about her experiments. "I know how important your work is to you, 'Mione," he added, shaking his head again, "I hope you're successful."

"Even if I'm not, it won't be in vain," she insisted, her lips compressing into a thin, flat line as she huffed indignantly at him.

Watching the two of them engage one another, Remus discreetly excused himself, meeting Hermione's hazel eyes briefly before he left the kitchen. He found Sirius perched at the top of the first flight of stairs, a broad grin spread across his face, and groaned as his friend followed him to his room, snickering heartily to himself the whole way.

"I assume you extricated yourself from the girl before Ron caught you?" Sirius inquired once Remus' door had closed and was sufficiently warded.

His wolfish companion shot him a flat, serious stare as he paced along the side of his bed, willing his heartbeat to regulate itself and calm the coursing fire in his veins. "Lord, Padfoot," he groaned as he composed himself, and running a hand loosely through his hair he reprimanded his friend humorously, "eavesdropping old cur."

Sirius flashed him a lopsided grin, pulling out the chair from his desk and seating himself on it with his arms folded over the back of the seat. "Guilty as charged," he shrugged, "so what's your plan, hm?"

"Merlin help me if I know," he sighed, looking sidelong at his oldest friend, "I've made plans to abscond with her to the countryside, alone, to sort this thing out."

Sirius howled with laughter, shaking his head mirthfully at his friend, "Did you really?"

"Oh lay off," Remus groused, his narrow gaze falling on his best friend with intense scrutiny, "and you seem to have handled all of this very well. Why aren't you surprised?"

Sirius met his eyes unwaveringly, stormy blue against warm, golden amber, "I had my suspicions last month, but only got some confirmation from her last week."

"Why didn't you say anything to me about it?" Remus asked in genuine surprise.

"Figured I'd give her some time to come clean on her own," Sirius answered honestly, "it's a moot point now, but I'd have told you before the next moon if she didn't fess up on her own."

The werewolf considered his friend's statement, nodding slightly. "So you really didn't know?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at him, nodding for emphasis, "Not until **very **recently."

Satisfied by his friend's straightforward reply, Remus settled somewhat agitatedly on the edge of his bed. Drawing his wand automatically, he rolled the smooth, familiar shaft of wood through his fingers as he considered how close he had come to getting caught like an adolescent schoolboy by one of her oldest friends. _'And ex-boyfriend,' _his mind supplied helpfully, and he groaned as he raked his fingers through his hair again.

"Merlin, Padfoot, do you realize what's she done? More than two years now, ever since the end of the war, she's been transforming into an animagus, a wolf, and joining Moony on his nights out," his foot tapped impatiently, and soon he was on his feet again pacing the length of his small bedroom. "I don't know how to explain it. I should be angry at her, livid, and at first I was, but five minutes in the same room as her and I stop caring. The wolf's totally infatuated with her."

Sirius regarded his friend solemnly, quiet for a while as he listened. "What about you?"

Remus groaned in frustration. "What about me, indeed," he repeated with a heavy sigh, "I can barely control myself around her, it's not just the wolf in me…"

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When there was a soft knock on his door two hours later, Remus didn't need his keen sense of smell or sensitive hearing to know that it was Hermione standing on the other side. His door opened silently, and he greeted her casually, relaxed and calm.

"Hermione," his voice was warm, wrapping around her name the way he'd wrapped her in his arms only hours before, "please, come in." He stood by the door as she entered, closing it softly behind her.

"I hope I'm not intruding," were the first words out of her mouth, an embarrassed blush staining her cheeks as she continued, "I thought perhaps we should discuss," her voice wavered as Remus stepped toward her.

"Yes?" he encouraged her softly as he stood still before her, meeting her eyes steadily.

"Our plans," the words tumbled out of her mouth, feeling awkward, "I thought we should finish discussing what you mentioned in the kitchen."

She was acutely aware of his proximity to her, the smell and heat of his body, and her lips tingled at the memory of his kiss. Licking her lips self-consciously, she began to take a step back when Remus reached out and caught her around the waist, his warm arm encircling her.

"Yes," he agreed softly, his eyes flickering over her face, tracing her features slowly, lovingly, the way he intended to trail his hands over her later, "You have no idea how beautiful you are when you're flustered, embarrassed."

Reaching up with his free hand, he brushed her hair out of her face, trailing his fingertips lightly over her skin as he did so. Hermione's eyes closed for a moment, her senses fixated temporarily on the sheer, simple pleasure of his skin grazing lightly over hers. When he leaned closer to her, she felt his breath teasing her lips, and she leaned up slightly on instinct, catching his lips with hers in a tender kiss.

Remus groaned as Hermione kissed him, his grip on her waist tightening automatically; he pulled her closer to him, tangling his other hand fully in her mass of hair. When they pulled away, her lips were as red as her cheeks, and Remus leaned his forehead gently against hers.

"We should stop doing this here," he admonished her lightly, resisting the urge to kiss her again even as they remained loosely entwined together. Her arms had wrapped around him in response, and she looked at him shyly from beneath her dark eyelashes as he kissed her on the nose.

"You're right," she whispered, transfixed by his steady gaze until her eyes fell down to his lips again, curved in a wry smile.

"Hermione?" Remus' voice was soft and husky as he pushed her back lightly toward his bed.

"Yes, Remus?" she felt as though liquid fire was coursing through her veins, her heart racing at the sound of his voice, and she wanted to kiss him again.

"Have a seat," he pressed her down lightly by the shoulder with one hand, encouraging her to take a seat on the edge of his bed. Stepping away from her, he pulled the chair from his desk over and sat a few feet from her, "Let's try to discuss this without getting carried away."

His statement cut a sobering line through her hazy thoughts, and she bit her tongue slightly, nodding in agreement, "Yes, sorry for that—"

"Are you apologizing for kissing me, Miss Granger?" he interrupted her with a raised brow, deliberately using his old form of address. It had the desired effect; Hermione flushed to her hairline, her mouth snapping shut, and he laughed softly, shaking his head.

"Don't apologize," he told her affectionately, "it's just that this isn't the place for it. So, as I was saying earlier, let us take all this to a more private location, shall we?"

"Of course," she agreed readily, and they made their plans for Remus to leave the next day, while Hermione would wait four days before joining him in the countryside. That would give her enough time to make reasonable excuses to Ron and Harry, while it gave him enough time to think everything through thoroughly and without distractions before they went any further.

"You know," Remus commented after they'd finalized their schedule but were still sitting several feet from one another in their respective places, "I didn't realize you and Sirius had become such good friends."

"Oh?" it was her turn to raise an eyebrow at him, and she smiled coyly, "well, we do live in the same house after all, and there's someone we both care a lot about. You know how it is…"

"Indeed I do, yes," he nodded slowly, taking in every detail of her appearance, her wild hair, the arch of her nose and the curve of her lips, "Tomorrow it is, then." He stood, offering her his hand, and she reached out tentatively to accept it, allowing him to pull her lightly to her feet.

"Hermione," he drew her properly into his arms, tilting her chin up to look him in the eyes.

Hoping he would kiss her again, she nodded, "yes?"

Framing her face in his hands, he leaned forward and kissed each of her eyelids softly, then pressed a chaste, lingering kiss to her lips. "Don't ever apologize for loving me," he whispered the words in the shell of her ear, his mouth grazing her skin as his breath stirred her hair. Looking in his eyes, she found them a mixture of fire and gold tinged by primal, wild energy, but he let go of her and stepped away, gesturing to the door of his room.

_[break]_

That's all for now, folks, but check back again soon because chapter nine is already in the works and will be up much sooner than this one was. I've also been putting in work on _Déjà Vu_, so if you're following that one you can expect to see updates within ~ 2 weeks. Here in _Spirit Bound, _chapter nine will commence some legitimate relationship building for Hermione & Remus, as well as some more action with the ever-delightful Moony.

Let me know what you think so far, I love hearing from everyone. ^.^


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